To ask the Minister of Health when the entire population will be served by a local, community-based Urgent Care Centre.

In October 2020, I published the No More Silos (NMS) Action Plan, which includes 10 key actions to ensure that Urgent and Emergency Care services across primary and secondary care can be maintained and improved in an environment that is safe for patients and for staff.

One of the key actions of the NMS Plan was the introduction of Urgent and Emergency Care Centres, with Centres having subsequently being opened in the Belfast, South Eastern and Southern Trust areas.

I introduced NMS in August 2020 to enable some of the emerging conclusions from the Review of Urgent and Emergency Care to be rapidly implemented as we began to rebuild following the first wave of COVID-19. Given the ongoing pandemic, delivery predominantly via local implementation groups was determined as the most appropriate approach. Under this approach, each Trust was enabled to prioritise how they allocated their resources, meaning that not all services were made available in all areas.

NMS was never intended to be a replacement for the Urgent and Emergency Care Review and I hope to publish the Review for consultation early in the New Year. Following the consultation period, my Department will develop an action plan that will provide a clear direction of travel for full implementation.