AQW 43064/11-15 Written question to the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for his assessment of the number of appointments that Multiple Sclerosis Patients, in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, have had with a Consultant Neurologists MS Specialist, in the last two years.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 2 March 2015
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 2 March 2015
- Answer due by
- 18 March 2015
- Answered
- 13 March 201511 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Health
- Priority question
- No
Answer
In regard to appointments that Multiple Sclerosis patients have with Consultant Neurologists, decisions about the referral of individual patients to specialist services for treatment are a matter of clinical judgement to be taken by healthcare professionals based on clinical needs.
Information on the number of appointments that Multiple Sclerosis Patients, in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, have had with a Consultant Neurologists MS Specialist, is not available. It is not possible to separately identify those patients with Multiple Sclerosis from all patients who attend the general neurology specialty.
Information on the number of people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in each Health and Social Care Trust is not available. Information, however, is available on the number of people receiving treatment for Multiple Sclerosis at the end of the month.
The number of people receiving treatment for Multiple Sclerosis at the end of February 2015, the most recent data available, is shown in the table below. This data is broken down by Trust of Residence.
Number of patients on treatment for Multiple Sclerosis at 28th February 2015
| HSC Trust of residence | No. of patients on treatment |
| Belfast | 247 |
| Northern | 436 |
| South Eastern | 344 |
| Southern | 275 |
| Western | 253 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,555 |
Source: Belfast HSC Trust