AN extra day of paediatric general surgery per month is to take place at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen.

The Western Trust today announced it is to provide the additional extra day in a bid to tackle regional waiting lists for paediatric surgery.

The initiative is part of a Northern Ireland-wide drive to improve access to elective paediatric general surgery.

Anne Donaghey, assistant director of operations and service improvement for Omagh and South West Acute Hospitals, said: "We are delighted to be able to facilitate paediatric surgery one day per month to tackle regional waiting lists for young people who require routine surgery.

"The initial patients availing of this surgery will be Western Trust patients, with a maximum of eight children benefitting per day.

"We will be working with our HSC Trust colleagues to ensure that children across the region will receive their surgery as quickly as possible.

"This move is an illustration of the Western Trust working in partnership with regional colleagues to fulfil the health minister’s ambitions on reducing waiting lists for elective surgery across specialties."

Health minister Robin Swann welcomed the announcement by the Western Trust and said it is "an important step to recover our elective paediatric surgery services after the difficult time over the last couple of years".

He also said more capacity will be added in other trusts across Northern Ireland.

The Northern Trust will add two paediatric general surgery day lists per month from July, while the Southern Trust will run two ad hoc paediatric general surgery lists in Daisy Hill Hospital, as well as providing dental, ear, nose and throat surgery lists.

The South Eastern Trust is to deliver weekly sessions across ENT, general surgery, dental and general anaesthetic MRI, with additional sessions on weekends, with regular surgery lists also in operation at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in the Belfast Trust.