During April - June 2011:
ON AVERAGE 43 PEOPLE A DAY LAY 4 - 12 HOURS IN ACUTE A&E'S IN NORTHERN TRUST
ON AVERAGE 13 PATIENTS A DAY LAY OVER 12 HOURS IN ACUTE A&E'S IN THE NORTHERN TRUST
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/ec1_june11.pdf
In a 3 month period 2,448 patients waited over 12 hours for treatment in Northern Ireland A&E’s, of which 1,338 patients waited over twelve hours for treatment or discharge from the Northern Trust Acute A&E’s. More worrying still is that 1,196 (48%) of these patients waited over 12 hours at the Antrim Area Hospital. On average 13 patients a day were left waiting over 12 hours at the Antrim Hospital, some of whom were left waiting according to sources inside the hospital over 24 hours.
To extend the problem there are also huge numbers of patients waiting 4 to 12 hours inside A&E’s across the country, although the DHSSPS purposely publish reports that make it hard to calculate the actual waiting times,using the final report from the DHSSPS we can gain that Approximately 29,106 patients waited 4 to 12 across A&E’s and Minor Injury Units for treatment with the Royal Victoria topping the list with 4,260 patient’s followed by Antrim Area with 3,972.
To summarise the performance of Antrim Area, for the 3 month period there were 18,498 attendances, of which 3,972 waited 4 to 12 hours for treatment, followed with a further 1,196 waiting 12 hours of more.
The Mid Ulster Hospital lost its acute status based on health and safety issues that could likely occur, not health and safety problems that were occurring and now patients from Coleraine, Antrim, Mid Ulster are left with two acute A&E’s that cannot and despite the introduction of porta-cabin wards most likely will not be able to cater for a population base of over 470,000 potential patients.
It has been recognised and quotable in Hansard by the Health Minister Edwin Poots that Mid Ulster Hospital was run down, Former CEO of the Northern Trust Mr Colm Donaghy was one of those responsible for running it down yet is still in a position to make clinical decisions in the Belfast Trust. Executive board members of the Northerner Trust, who's salaries cost £1 million a year with an added CETV pension pot of over £6million, ran the hospital down and are still in a position to make clinical decisions. Non Executive board members appointed by the Health Minister in the Northern Trust as independent voices who watched the EXE members run down the Mid Ulster Hospital are still in a position to make clinical decisions.
We now are entering a stage where the Health Minister and other elected Representatives know that the official waiting times for Antrim A&E are critical, and are made worse by the fact that patients are hidden for hours in the short stay and clinical decision wards,this present day reality must stop and those who created these problems held fully accountable. The Mid Ulster Hospital while fully operational did what it had to do; serve the residents of Mid Ulster while taking pressure of the larger acute facilities that were struggling to maintain a service for their own areas.
The Health Minister and his adviser's must now start to take the urgent steps and reintroduce services in Mid Ulster; acute services, children's services and the ambulance service while doing the best they can are failing residents in Mid Ulster and when the Assembly resumes in September the health and safety of the 90,000 plus residents of Mid Ulster must not be allowed to be jeopardised any further.
ENDS____________-------------------------________________________-
Hugh McCloy - Chair Save The Mid
Tel: 07871503189
email: [email protected]