NI A&E services hanging by a thread, says top doctor

A leading doctor has warned that emergency care services in Northern Ireland are “hanging by a thread”.
Dr Ian Crawford said the increase in 12-hour A&E waits was ‘staggering’Dr Ian Crawford said the increase in 12-hour A&E waits was ‘staggering’
Dr Ian Crawford said the increase in 12-hour A&E waits was ‘staggering’

More than 5,000 patients had to wait at least 12 hours at A&E last month, the latest figures from the Department of Health show.

Five years ago, in December 2014, just 91 patients had to wait such a long time for care.

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Dr Ian Crawford, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland, described the increase over recent years as “staggering”.

Ciaran McMurray became unruly after being taken to the Royal Victoria HospitalCiaran McMurray became unruly after being taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital
Ciaran McMurray became unruly after being taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital

Last month, 5,280 patients were forced to wait more than 12 hours for treatment. That is the highest figure since records began in 2008.

Dr Crawford said: “We have reached breaking point. Our emergency department services are hanging by a thread.

“To recover from this, immediate action is required.

“Now that power has been restored to Stormont, it is critical that our government focuses on building capacity across our health and social care system by increasing staffing, the number of acute hospital beds and the social care that are fundamentally required to support those leading the review of urgent and emergency care in turning the tide and delivering tangible improvement at the coal face for our patients and staff.”

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Health Minister Robin Swann said: “One of the key issues is the increasing number of older people attending emergency departments and experiencing long waits, many of whom will require hospital admission. As a society, we have to find better ways of looking after our frail elderly citizens when they need hospital care.”

Meanwhile, the top civil servant at the Department of Health, Permanent Secretary Richard Pengelly, said money alone would not solve the problem.

“To eradicate the waiting lists we need very significant funding on a sustained basis,” he said.

“In terms of capacity, if all the money in the world was made available to us today we couldn’t clear those waiting lists overnight.”