A County Tyrone woman has warned that Northern Ireland's neurology waiting lists have grown so long that patients may die before securing an appointment.

Roisin McMackin, who is 52, has spent two years on the waiting list for a first consultant neurology appointment. She recently received a text message from the Western Health and Social Care Trust asking whether she still needed the appointment, and informing her she was number 8,498 on the list.

Ms McMackin said she responded to confirm her place but questioned what protections are in place for patients who miss such communications, for example if texts are filtered into spam folders or if patients struggle with technology.

Living with syringomyelia and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, both progressive conditions, Ms McMackin argued that patients with complex needs ought to be managed by a specialist, yet the system treats everyone identically. She estimated that at the current rate at which new patients are taken on, she could face a wait stretching into decades.

The Western Health and Social Care Trust said it has launched a Waiting List Validation Programme designed to improve elective waiting list accuracy. The exercise, prompted by a regional directive from the Strategic Planning and Performance Group, targets patients waiting more than six months for a first outpatient appointment.

Patients are contacted by letter or text message with a QR code or hyperlink to confirm their status. Since April 2026 the trust has sent 24,283 validation letters and 10,493 text messages. Of 25,816 responses received to date, 21,264 patients said they still required treatment, while 2,990 were discharged from the list. Among those discharged, 1,364 confirmed they no longer needed treatment or had been treated elsewhere.

A trust spokesperson said responses are reviewed daily and recorded on the Encompass system. Non-responders are followed up through standard contact methods, and patients removed after validation can be reinstated if they later indicate they wish to remain in the queue.