Thursday 24 October 2024
The Northern Ireland Executive must act now to avoid a ‘disastrous winter’ for patients seeking care in the country’s A&Es, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned.
The call comes as new data released today (Thursday 24 October 2024) reveals that July to September was the worst quarter on record for 12-hour performance in NI’s Emergency Departments, despite it being some of the warmest months of the year.
The figures, released by the Department of Health, reveal that in the second quarter of 2024/25:
These figures follow a warning message from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust on Monday, that stated the Emergency Department at Antrim Area Hospital was “extremely busy”, with patients facing long waits whose conditions are not life-threatening.
Dr Russell McLaughlin, RCEM’s Vice President for Northern Ireland said: “If this was the situation during the summer months, what will it be like in the depths of winter?
“We are deeply concerned about the situation both clinicians and the people of Northern Ireland will have to endure over the coming months.
“They are already bearing the brunt of a system that is clearly at capacity before the triple threat of flu, RSV and covid cases surging.
“We know long stays disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society, including the elderly. The situation is not only unacceptable, inconvenient and frustrating; long waits are dangerous and potentially life threatening.
“Emergency Departments are running on fumes and frustrations, and they are in an emergency of their own. Just this week, we have seen one department be forced to declare it is under extreme pressure.
“The Executive must act now and put a plan in place to improve this awful situation before the coldest months hit because at the moment, we are on track for another disastrous winter.”
Visual representations of the data are available on RCEM’s website.
