£0.5m for ‘essential’ stairlift provision in Northern Health Trust area

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust board has approved a £0.5m business case for household lifts and hoists.
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Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the board, Roy Hamill, the Trust’s interim director of Community Care, said that this equipment is “essential” to enable people to continue living in their own homes.

“Demand has increased in the area from people who have difficulty in managing stairs. This has placed significant demand on existing resources. The service has experienced escalating costs of installation.

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“There is a need for this project. It can be measured by the impact it makes on service users’ lives.”

Antrim Area Hospital. 

Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEyeAntrim Area Hospital. 

Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye
Antrim Area Hospital. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Board member Jim McCall asked about the availability of occupational therapy support in the Northern area.

Mr Hamill reported that although a number of staff had been redeployed, he was not concerned at this time.

The meeting also heard that the Northern Trust spent £70m on “flexible” staff including £40m agency costs during the last financial year with just over 100 international nurses “on board”, according to executive director of Finance Owen Harkin.

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Funding of PPE during the Covid pandemic during the same period cost £31m with all Covid costs of £90.5m “fully funded”, board members were told.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.

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Click here to read: Rise in numbers attending Antrim and Causeway emergency units, Trust board told

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