To ask the Minister of Health what the average waiting time was for (i) paediatric; and (ii) adult cystic fibrosis patients in Northern Ireland to be referred to (a) a clinical psychologist; and (b) a social worker, for each year since 2015.

My Department does not routinely collect figures on waiting times for patients with cystic fibrosis to see a clinical psychologist or social worker; therefore, the information in this response has been provided by the Belfast Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust who are responsible for the service.

Part a:

To obtain the average waiting time for paediatric patients with cystic fibrosis to be referred to a clinical psychologist for each year since 2015 would require a manual trawl of records and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The average waiting time for adult cystic fibrosis patients to access psychology services is not available; however, the longest waiting timeframe for each year are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Longest waiting times (weeks) for adults with cystic fibrosis to access psychology services in Northern Ireland (2015-2022)

Source: Belfast HSC Trust.

* Information for 2022 relates from January to September.

Part b:

To obtain the average waiting time for paediatric patients with cystic fibrosis to be referred to a social worker for each year since 2015 would require a manual trawl of records and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

For adults with cystic fibrosis, the social work service is part of a multi-disciplinary team service available to all patients who consent and does not require a waiting list. Therefore, information on waiting times is not available.