More than 1,000 patients removed from waiting lists between Nov and Feb

Majority discharged after completing their treatment programme

More than 1,000 patients have been removed from elective care waiting lists between the end of November and the beginning of February.

Of those, 984 were discharged after completing their treatment programme, while 41 were removed following a validation process.

The health minister says whenever a patient is removed, both they and their GP receive a letter.

Claire Christian says the validation process consists of three stages: