Antrim A&E crisis: Patients urged 'take first care package you are given and go home' as medics struggle to free up hospital beds

It comes as a “major incident” was declared from Saturday into Sunday at Antrim Area Hospital’s A&E department, which had to shut its doors to any new arrivals after medics became overwhelmed by the volume of patients.

(FURTHER DETAILS BELOW)

The Northern Health Trust, which runs the hospital, said that "our priority today has to be patient discharge; we appeal for the full co-operation of patients, families and carers”.

This was echoed by DUP MLA Pam Cameron, who told the News Letter the problem was likely to get worse soon without radical action.

"I think this is something we're going to hear more of and it is incredibly distressing to hear,” she said.

It is "a huge issue" that healthy people are blocking beds in hospitals because they refuse to leave until they get the exact home care package that they want, the ex-deputy chairwoman of Stormont’s health committee added.

This has been a problem for a number of years, she said, and politicians have often advised constituents to do just this, but the practice must now stop, she added.

"My best advice is that we can assist by ensuring those that are in hospitals who are ready to be discharged, that we accept whatever care package is offered for them.

"I am encouraging people to accept the first care package they are offered in order to get out of hospital. And then the trust will be following up to ensure that they get the appropriate care package that they need."

She also said it’s getting harder to attract care staff to implement the care packages, due to high stress and low pay.

"It is becoming more and more challenging as time goes on,” she said.

"They can be paid much more for less stress in a supermarket and maybe not have to pay annual mileage. So I think there's much more that needs to be done to ensure that this sector is supported and appreciated."

SO WHAT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY NIGHT / SUNDAY MORNING?

The occurence at Antrim Area Hospital late on Saturday is officially known as a "major incident", and it meant that ambulances were re-routed to other A&Es, and the public were advised not to come.

Asked what had happened to those patients who did turn up, the Northern Health Trust was unable to say at time of writing.

The hospital has been under major pressure for some time, and has repeatedly issued messages to tell the public not to come at all unless their situation is urgent.

In addition, back in midFebruary, Antrim Area Hospital declared a "potential major incident".

At that time, over 60 people needed beds that were not available in wards at the hospital, and medics warned that they may have to shut the A&E to new arrivals if the pressure worsened.

This latest event at Antrim has crossed the line to become a full "major incident", though hospital authorities gave no indication of the patient numbers involved.

The Northern Health Trust said in a statement: “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 …

"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 emergency department allowed the situation to be managed and controlled in a safe manner."

It dubbed this action "regrettable," but said it was "the only safe" course of action.

It added "our priority today has to be patient discharge; we appeal for the full co-operation of patients, families and carers in assisting us with discharging loved ones who are ready to go home".

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