The Department of Health was allocated an additional £40 million in the Stormont monitoring round last week and while this cash boost is very welcome it is open to question just how quickly it will reduce our appalling waiting lists.
Minister Simon Hamilton has talked up the financial injection saying it will ``kick start the process of getting waiting times back to an acceptable position.''
However, even he is sounding a note of caution, acknowledging this process is the ``start of a long journey.''
Unfortunately, for many patients the journey towards receiving treatment has already been long enough.
Figures released yesterday by the health department show that a record 396,783 people are waiting for treatment, a hospital appointment or diagnostic test.
Incredibly, this represents 22 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland while more than 100,000 have been waiting longer than the government's 18 week target for a first appointment.
These figures are an indictment of how the health service is being run in Northern Ireland.
We already know that the situation is much worse than in Britain where a leading healthcare expert recently said `heads would roll' if hospitals in England experienced the sort of waiting times which have become the norm here.
The impact on the lives of thousands of people and the anxiety this is causing simply cannot be underestimated. Patients are living with chronic pain and some have had to give up their jobs while they wait for their operation.
It is an unacceptable situation and because the lists have spiralled to a 15-year high, it is difficult to see how £40 million will make a significant difference in the short term.
While efforts will be made to tackle the queue for treatment, the list will inevitably grow.
No one expects a quick fix but clearly the minister has to get to grips with this problem and come up with a long term plan to ensure patients are treated promptly.
