For the interim the residents who were in Thompson House have been moved to a smaller ward, ward 2, within the main hospital buildings.
This is a further net loss of beds for the Northern Trust, a loss that cannot be sustained as according to former acute director Valerie Jackson, 90% of all patients waiting for treatment on trolleys and corridors was due to the lack of beds within the Trust. This statement was made at Trust Board level in Response to Rutter & Hinds A&E review 2012.
The future of these patients are still unclear, Save The Mid will now seek legal advice concerning this move, as the Trust have now commissioned Brooklands Health Center to provide 15 intermediate care beds for the next year. There is an obvious bed shortage, so why shut down more beds within Trust owned buildings.
As this move has been made before the end of the consultation of the population plans serious concerns are now raised in what else will be removed from the Mid Ulster Hospital site before the end of the consultation in Jan 2013.
Although this moves signals a return of inpatients to the Main Hospital building, the first since July 2011, every move must be made both locally and politically that these inpatients are secured for the future.
Rutter & Hinds reports can be downloaded here: http://savethemid.weebly.com/rutter--hinds-report-antrim-ae.html
Save The Mid reaction to Rutter & Hinds:
http://m.blottr.com/n-ireland/breaking-news/ni-health-chief-should-resign