Public consultations on specialist day surgeries to cut waiting lists in Northern Ireland are expected to start by the end of the year.
In October 2018, prototype surgery hubs were announced for cataract and varicose vein procedures - the pilot became operational by December.
Within three months South Tyrone Hospital which is piloting a cataract surgery has reported an increase from 15 to 70 surgeries per week since it started.
Now public consultations are to be held to try and roll the same approach out across a wide range of specialities, including General Surgery and Endoscopy, Urology, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, ENT, Paediatrics and Neurology - 146,291 people are on the waiting lists for these.
As of December 2018, there was an overall total of 281, 705 people waiting for an initial outpatient consultation visit for all hospital departments.
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By December 2020, the Department of Health aims to transfer more than 100,000 day cases, 25,000 endoscopies and 8,000 paediatric procedures to the new model.
Department of Health Permanent Secretary Richard Pengelly: "Dedicated elective care centres are a priority and a key part of tackling hospital waiting times.
“All too often at present, routine surgery has to be postponed because hospital theatres are needed for urgent and emergency cases.
“By creating day surgery hubs on standalone sites away from 24 hour Emergency Departments, we can make our system more productive for the benefit of patients."
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The prototypes for varicose veins are based at Lagan Valley Hospital and Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex, while those for cataracts operate from three locations - Mid-Ulster Hospital, Downe Hospital, and South Tyrone Hospital.
A key aim is to set up centres in more rural areas where there is less pressure on A&E departments.
The 2017 Health survey indicated that 78% of those surveyed would be prepared to travel beyond the nearest acute hospital if treatment was available in a more timely manner.
Whilst 82% of people thought that a journey time of up to one hour would be reasonable.
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Mr Pengelly added: “A key issue will be the location of the centres. This will inevitably mean that some people will have to travel a bit further for their day surgery, but we will achieve significant and sustainable reductions in the waiting times for the procedures. Previous work suggests service users accept this trade off."
Newly established planning groups including clinicians and representatives from HSC organisations will take plans forward in each speciality, including identifying preferred sites for the centres.
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