More than 1,500 people are on waiting lists for home care packages in the health trust areas that cover Fermanagh and South Tyrone, newly published data indicates.

The figures were released by the Department of Health in response to a Priority Written Question from Ulster Unionist MLA Diana Armstrong, who asked Health Minister Mike Nesbitt for details on the number of constituents waiting for an assessed care package.

The department does not collate data by constituency, so the information is recorded by health trust locality. Fermanagh and South Tyrone is served by parts of both the Western Health and Social Care Trust and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

At the end of March 2026, the Western Trust recorded 439 people waiting for a full care package, with a shortfall of 5,468 hours of care. A further 291 people were waiting for a partial package, requiring an additional 1,998 hours.

In the Southern Trust area, 764 people were waiting for a full package, representing 6,353 hours of unmet need, while 35 people awaited a partial package, accounting for 241 hours.

Together, the two trusts had 1,203 people waiting for a full care package and 326 waiting for a partial package. The total unmet demand amounted to 14,060 hours of care.

Home care packages provide support to help older people and those with significant health needs to continue living independently at home, avoiding the need for residential care.

The data does not show how many of those waiting live within the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency itself, but it offers the most detailed picture available of the pressures on community care services in the area.

The figures are expected to fuel concerns over delays in care provision and ongoing difficulties in recruiting enough social care staff to meet demand.