To ask the Minister of Health for his Department’s assessment of the current interim arrangement with Alder Hey Children's Hospital paediatric pathology service, mindful of the impact the current process has on grieving parents.

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Belfast HSC Trust and Alder Hey Hospital Trust for the provision of this service has been in place since January 2019, when the service in Belfast became unsustainable following the resignation of the sole paediatric pathologist in Northern Ireland.

The SLA for this agreement has recently been extended on a rolling three-year basis until 2027 with the caveat that we can exit this contract at any stage should we be in a position to re-establish the service in Northern Ireland.

Post-mortem uptake levels are now almost consistent with those prior to the cessation of the service in Belfast. The numbers of placenta histologies being sent for examination have risen in recent years. Further research is required to understand the underlying reasons for this rise.

The Pubic Health Agency (PHA) and my Department gave an undertaking to stakeholders involved in planning of the interim move to Alder Hey to evaluate the service after 1 year. In addition to qualitative measures, it was agreed that an understanding of the experience of staff and most importantly, families, would be undertaken by an organisation external to the HSC.

In light of the specialist and sensitive nature of this evaluation, Queens University Belfast were approached to undertake this work. The evaluation was supported by my Department and PHA with advice being provided by a stakeholder representative steering group. Unfortunately, due to Covid pressures this evaluation was paused for a period of time.

A full evaluation report has now been developed jointly by my Department and PHA which encompasses the qualitative report produced by Queens University Belfast along with a full-service evaluation and includes key performance indicator information. This report contains 21 recommendations in relation to how services and care could be improved for example in relation to timeliness of reporting, communication, and follow-up for parents. This report is currently going through the necessary approval process before it can be released.

I am committed to finding a better resolution to the issue of local access for local perinatal and paediatric pathology. Whilst my first preference would be the restoration of a dedicated paediatric pathology service for Northern Ireland, such an outcome continues to remain incredibly challenging as the services are under considerable pressure not just here but across the world due to a global shortage of paediatric pathologists.

I am keen to explore the feasibility of an all-island approach to these services and, as I confirmed to the Health Committee, I have had a number of conversations with Minister Donnelly about the possibility of future co-operation, which, whilst still at the very early stages of development and consideration, have been very positive.

As these services move to more centralised models nationally, my priority in the meantime is to ensure that we continue to have access to high-quality, reliable and timely pathology services at Alder Hey, to ensure that parents can get the medical answers they need following their loss. Access has been secured by a further extension of these arrangements.

Officials will continue to work with NHS England and colleagues across the UK and Ireland to explore possible solutions to capacity issues.