To ask the Minister of Health for an update on the development of hot clinics and megaclinics to facilitate rapid access for patients and avoid attendance in Emergency Departments.

On 16 October 2020 I published the Urgent and Emergency Care Action Plan referred to as ‘No More Silos’. A key component of No More Silos is the development of Rapid Access Assessment and Treatment Services to deliver the right care, with the right person, in the right place, first time.

Megaclinics are a way of bringing multi-disciplinary teams together to ensure much higher throughput and access to clinical assessment for key specialties. They allow more patients to be seen, and they can short circuit unnecessary delays in treatment. One of the actions in the Elective Care Framework published in June 2021 is the delivery of megaclinics for outpatient, assessment and pre-operative assessment by September 2021.