Twenty voluntary and community organisations across Northern Ireland are to receive a share of £500,000 in government funding to support patients currently on health service waiting lists, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has announced. The grants will assist an estimated 2,400 patients and their families with early intervention services while they await hospital appointments and treatments ranging from neurology to autism assessments.
During visits to Mencap and the Waterside Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership in Derry/Londonderry, the Minister emphasised the role of the voluntary sector in supporting those affected by extensive waiting times. The funding targets specific pressure points including neurology, orthopaedics, musculoskeletal care, gynaecology and mental health services. Projects will also support children with disabilities and complex needs, including those awaiting ASD/ADHD assessments.
Minister Hails “Invaluable” Partnership
The Support While Waiting Grant Scheme represents a key plank of the Department’s strategy to manage the pressure from waiting lists that currently exceed half a million people. Despite recent reductions in the longest waits, official statistics published in March 2026 showed 527,062 patients were waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment as of December 2025, with 87.1% waiting longer than the nine-week target and 38.1% waiting over a year.
Minister Nesbitt said:
“While we continue to see small but tangible improvements to the waiting list position, there are still many patients who wait too long for treatment and assessment, across a range of specialties. The Support While Waiting grant scheme clearly demonstrates the value of a strong partnership between government and the voluntary and community sector. These organisations deliver a range of invaluable early intervention and wellbeing programmes designed to help patients manage their conditions. This support will help people on those lists to stay well while they wait.”
He added:
“Through Support While Waiting, 2,400 patients and their families will receive localised assistance to manage their conditions, enabling those awaiting treatment to be as prepared as possible when treatment becomes available. I am committed to supporting the valuable work of the community and voluntary sector and pay tribute to each organisation working to meet the needs of the communities they serve.”
Critical Support for Families in Limbo
The funding arrives amid severe delays in neurodevelopmental assessments, with recent data indicating children and adults face waits of up to four years for autism and ADHD diagnoses in some areas. Mencap, one of the successful applicants, highlighted the acute distress caused by these delays.
Claire Shepherd, Head of Children and Families at Mencap, said:
“This funding is critical at a time when we are seeing increased levels of anxiety and stress for parents and carers of children and young people with learning disabilities around waiting lists. This early intervention funding will allow us to deliver activities within communities to help alleviate the pressures families are facing.”
Successful projects will deliver practical assistance including physical health optimisation to prevent deterioration, emotional wellbeing support, and programmes to improve patients’ readiness for future treatment. All services must be free at the point of access and accessible to people with diverse needs.
Scale of Funding Against Systemic Need
The £500,000 pot—split among 20 organisations—follows the Department’s broader £215 million Elective Care Framework investment announced earlier in 2025. While the Minister has pointed to “phenomenal achievements” in seeing over 200,000 additional patients during the last financial year, the latest quarterly figures reveal no Health and Social Care Trust met any ministerial waiting time targets.
The modest grant allocation raises questions about capacity to address the scale of distress. With over half a million people officially waiting for hospital care, the scheme reaches fewer than 0.5% of those on lists. Furthermore, the funding is time-limited, with programmes required to conclude by March 2027.
The full list of successful applicants is available via the Government Funding public portal.
Questions for Stakeholders
- With average autism assessment waits exceeding three years and ADHD waits reaching four years in some trusts, how will the Department measure whether £500,000 in community support materially reduces harm compared to clearing diagnostic backlogs?
- Given that the Core Grant funding scheme for 2026/27 was capped at £1.8 million to support over 70 organisations, is the Support While Waiting scheme sufficiently resourced to prevent duplication or gaps in coverage across Northern Ireland’s five trust areas?
- How will the Department ensure patients on waiting lists are systematically informed of these voluntary sector services, particularly those without digital access or advocacy support?
- When will GP and primary care data be integrated into the encompass electronic record system to provide a complete picture of waiting times across the entire health pathway, rather than just hospital-based statistics?
The Department has indicated that further details on waiting list reduction strategies will emerge in upcoming implementation plans. For now, the 20 funded organisations face the immediate task of delivering support to thousands of families navigating what remains one of the most challenging waiting list crises in the United Kingdom.