Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what risk assessment has been carried out on the potential risk to the population within the Northern Health and Social Care Trust area if the Causeway Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department is closed or its opening hours are limited.
(AQW 12474/11-15)
Mr Poots: Transforming Your Care recognises that significant change will be required to ensure that our health system is resilient and safe and delivers the best possible outcomes well into the future. Population plans are currently being developed for each Trust area and any proposals for change will be based on an assessment of need and investigation of the most appropriate way to achieve the safe, sustainable and resilient delivery of those services. As this process has not yet been completed no decisions have yet been made in relation to the
future configuration of services in the Northern Trust area, including the Causeway Hospital. Where there are proposed major changes to service configuration in local areas, these will be subject to full
consultation.
Antrim Area Hospital: Bank and Agency Staff
Mr McMullan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of hours that bank and agency staff have worked at the Antrim Area Hospital in each month of the last three years. (AQW 12658/11-15)
Mr Poots: The Northern Health & Social Care Trust advised that it was not possible to provide information on the number of hours that bank and agency staff have worked at the Antrim Area Hospital in each month of the last three years due to disproportionate costs.
Antrim Area Hospital: Staffing
Mr McMullan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (i) whether all wards at the Antrim Area Hospital are staffed to the legally required levels; and (ii) how often the levels of staff are evaluated. (AQW 12659/11-15)
Mr Poots: There are no legally imposed staffing levels in Northern Ireland. The staff required to deliver safe and effective care is determined through a range of measures that include consideration of the number of patients in a ward area, the complexity of their conditions and the level of care required. Staffing levels are assessed on an ongoing basis by senior nurses in clinical areas and are within a safe normative range at Antrim Area Hospital. A full review of nurse staffing across the wards at Antrim Area Hospital was carried out during the last quarter of 2011.
Doctor and Nursing Posts Transferred from the Causeway Hospital, Coleraine
Mr McMullan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many doctor and nursing posts have been transferred from the Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, to the Antrim Area Hospital, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 12704/11-15)
Mr Poots: The Northern Health & Social Care Trust advised that no doctor or nursing posts have been
transferred from the Causeway Hospital, Coleraine to the Antrim Area Hospital in the last five years.