Antrim Area Hospital declared major incident and closed doors to all patients

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust said it had to declare a Major Incident as a result.On Saturday night the trust tweeted: "Antrim Area Hospital Emergency Department has reached full capacity. Please do not attend in any circumstances."Today it has tweeted that it "remains under extreme pressure".It added: "Please do not attend the ED unless your condition is urgent or life threatening."If your condition is not urgent you will endure a long wait to be seen. Thank you for your patience."In a press statement the trust explained the background to the incident."We have warned for some time that it was inevitable that one or more hospitals could be forced into a situation where they had to close their Emergency Department for safety reasons due to the number of people in the department with high numbers needing to be admitted," it said."On Saturday night, Antrim Area Hospital had a disproportionately high number of critically ill patients, a number of whom arrived in quick succession. A clinical decision was made by the Senior Emergency Department Consultant that the department could no longer operate safely and could not respond appropriately to any further critically ill patients who might have arrived. As such a Major Incident was declared. Temporary closure of the ED allowed the situation to be managed and controlled in a safe manner. This was a regrettable position to be in, but in the circumstances it was the only safe and appropriate response. The Trust is continuing to work closely with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and other Trusts to coordinate an appropriate response given regional pressures."The Major Incident has now passed but the current situation is still highly pressured, the hospital added.“The Antrim site currently has a high number of very ill patients who require admission into the hospital and therefore our priority today has to be patient discharge. We would appeal for the full cooperation of patients, families and carers in assisting us with discharging loved ones who are ready to go home, to help free up much needed beds and reduce the overall pressure on our service.“People should definitely attend the ED if their condition is urgent or life threatening. Patients will always be seen in order of clinical priority, therefore those who attend with conditions which are not urgent will endure a long wait to be seen.“We thank the public and our staff for their patience and understanding in these difficult circumstances.”

In February staff at the hospital were "traumatised" by the considerable pressure of patient numbers, its emergency department manager told BBC News NI at the start of this year.

A potential major incident was declared when the hospital had no available beds.

Bronagh Gilmore said there was "no physical space to stand, never mind to receive critically ill patients".

At that time the South Eastern Trust and the Western Trust made staff appeals on social media for the Ulster Hospital and Altnagelvin Hospital, reporting "extreme pressures".

The Belfast Trust also urged patients who are fit for discharge to "help free up beds" by leaving its hospitals.