Number of flu hospital admissions 3.6 times higher than last year, Health Minister says

The number of people admitted to hospital with flu in Northern Ireland this winter is 3.6 times higher than the previous year, Stormont’s Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said.Mr Nesbitt told the Health Committee that patients facing long waits in hospital emergency departments were often having to “surrender their dignity and privacy” and said staff were facing “moral injury”.The minister announced that the flu vaccination programme would be extended to all those over the age of 50.

Mr Nesbitt attended the emergency meeting of his oversight committee amid ongoing concerns about winter pressures on health services in Northern Ireland, particularly the amount of time people are having to wait at emergency departments in hospitals.Mr Nesbitt began his evidence by paying tribute to health and social care staff who had worked over Christmas.The minister said he was “looking for levers short term” to deal with hospital pressures, as well as offering a “blank page” for next winter.He said: “I want to emphasise this is not just a Northern Ireland-specific problem.“Over the weekend past Liverpool health trust has declared a critical incident. Two others have similarly declared critical incidents, Plymouth and Hampshire.“I am not saying that to minimise the importance of what is happening here, but it is an illustration that the pressures are both serious and nationwide.“Across Northern Ireland we have seen 3.6 times as many patients hospitalised with flu this winter compared to last year.”The minister said he had made several visits to emergency departments, including Altnagelvin and the Ulster hospitals.He said: “There are common themes. Patients arrive with a reasonable expectation that they won’t have to surrender their dignity and their privacy, but that is often the case in these crisis times.“The staff are suffering moral injury. They did not sign up to deliver a service in this way.”He invited the committee to be constructive in helping to support him to deal with challenges.The minister said: “It appears to me certain MLAs engage only after the fact when the opportunity arises to criticise without alternatives.”Mr Nesbitt said demands for easy answers to winter hospital pressures are “understandble but misguided”.He added: “I am planning to ensure all social care workers receive the real living wage at an estimated additional cost of some £50million.“That will help stabilise the system and hopefully attract new people to work in it.“I intend to be the health minister that brings to an end minimum age employment for social care workers.”He added: “Flu vaccines will now be available to the over 50s, ie, the age group 50 to 64.“That is a new development. Having prioritised those most at risk and healthcare workers, I am now in a position to widen the reach of the flu vaccination programme."Meanwhile, the Royal College of General Practitioners Northern Ireland (RCGPNI) has said that GPs across the region are currently “working beyond capacity”.RCGPNI chair Dr Ursula Mason said: “The testimonies of patients attending emergency departments this winter are harrowing and are unfortunately mirrored by those of our colleagues working in such difficult conditions.“It is imperative that a long-term solution to capacity is found, but efforts must continue for short term and in-year mitigations.“While colleagues in EDs are under immense pressure to meet demand, GPs too are seeing a similar surge.“Already facing into winter with year-long capacity concerns, we are now under additional pressure to see and deal with more and more this winter.”

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