Swann: 'Cannot say when surgeries will be rescheduled'
Many were postponed amid the pandemic
The Health Minister has said he is unable to put a timeline on when patients who have had urgent operations postponed will be given a new date.
Robin Swann was speaking at a Covid-19 update on Wednesday afternoon.
Trusts were forced to postpone elective and urgent cancer operations as part of surge planning ahead of the expected peak of Covid patients.
Asked when cancer patients can expect to have their surgery rescheduled, Mr Swann revealed he does not have the answer:
"The more Covid patients that we have to support the longer it takes us to get back to doing those critical surgeries.
"It's not just about the availability of theatres or surgeons but also those critical care theatre nurses and anesthetists."
But he said everything is being done to ensure patients have access to the limited care available:
"It's about the regional approach that we are taking so that any surgical slots that are available anywhere across Northern Ireland will be made available to those who are most critically in need.
"Assessed on clinical need not by postcode or by...clerical staff but by the medical needs and the clinical assessment that is made."