To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department will conduct research into whether there are any health inequalities faced by people living in rural areas regarding cancer diagnoses.

Mr Nesbitt

My Department is committed to ensuring equitable and timely access to cancer diagnosis and treatment for all residents in Northern Ireland, regardless of location. It is important to understand whether individuals in rural areas face different challenges or barriers compared with those in urban areas when it comes to a cancer diagnosis. We have to understand any differences that exist. Therefore, my Department funded the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry at Queen's University Belfast to develop a research project on routes to diagnosis. That project aims to identify the key event in each cancer patient's pathway that most directly led to their cancer diagnosis, whether that was through a GP red-flag referral, a screening programme, an emergency department or any other route. The project also examines the cancer stage at diagnosis by the route of diagnosis. The research will highlight any demographic inequalities in the diagnostic routes that need to be addressed. Identifying and addressing those disparities is essential to promoting early cancer detection, improving survival rates and reducing cancer mortality for all. The most recent report of the project, published in 2024, provides findings for patients who were diagnosed in the period 2018-2020. It includes analysis by demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, trust area and social deprivation. The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry is now working on a follow-up report for patients diagnosed between 2018 and 2021, which will provide an analysis of their routes to diagnosis and of the differences between those who live in urban and rural locations.

Mr Nesbitt

I will take a broader run at answering the Member's question. He will be aware that the area of health inequalities is where I want to put a focus in my remaining time as Minister. The term "health inequalities" is almost shorthand for three things: inequalities, as in outcomes; health inequities, as in access to healthcare; and health literacy, because people in some areas, particularly areas of deprivation, do not know how to navigate the health and social care system in the way that Members might. The rural challenges are greater than the urban challenges. The Live Better initiative to tackle health inequalities is running in two demonstration areas. Those areas were deliberately chosen because they are tight urban areas, so the empirical evidence can be collected more easily, which will be much harder to do over a rural geographic spread. That does not mean that we are going to ignore the rural areas.

It just means that I need to be able to go back to my Executive colleagues and say, "Here is really solid empirical evidence that these interventions work. Now we are going to face the test of making them work in rural areas, which are more challenging". That will include cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Mr Speaker

We move to topical questions.