‘Severe pressures’ across NI’s hospitals and ambulance service

Severe pressures are being reported across Northern Ireland’s health service, with hospitals and the ambulance service warning of potential lengthy waits.

On Tuesday afternoon, a “potential major incident” was declared at Antrim Area Hospital’s Emergency Department, while the South Eastern Trust was issuing an urgent appeal to staff to help with the challenges faced at the Ulster Hospital.

Potential major incidents are usually declared by the ED consultant in charge on safety grounds, in order for all possible actions to be taken to avert an actual major incident which would mean the hospital effectively closing its doors.

At one stage, 62 people needed beds that were not available in wards at Antrim - "extraordinary numbers, never seen before", according to the Trust.

A Trust spokesperson said: “We’re not in a good place at all and we have never seen pressures just quite as intense as this.

“Unfortunately, those pressures are compounded by the fact that many of the patients waiting in the Emergency Department are very sick indeed.”

The spokesperson added: “Senior staff and clinicians are in constant communication with each other to try and identify what, if anything, can be can done.

“They are also working with colleagues in the wider HSC - although pressures are also severe elsewhere across the region, meaning that normal balancing, or ‘smoothing’, of ambulance arrivals across the system is much more difficult.”

According to the Northern Trust, the situation at Antrim is complicated by the hospital continuing to care for significant numbers of Covid-19 patients.

The spokesperson noted: “Currently, Antrim Hospital has 26% of all of the region’s Covid in-patients and more Covid inpatients (101) than any other hospital in Northern Ireland.

“In situations like this many different actions, some seemingly minor, can collectively make the difference.

“We have also asked our GP colleagues in Primary Care, who are themselves under considerable pressure, for their help in trying to ensure that only those who absolutely need to attend ED do so.”

The potential major incident has since been stood down, but significant pressures remain.

Meanwhile, at the Ulster Hospital, nurses and nursing assistants are needed in the Emergency Department on Tuesday and Wednesday night.