NI Health: Emergency department ‘not in a good position’ – Nesbitt

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said that emergency departments (EDs) in Northern Ireland are “not well placed” to cope with the continued pressure of winter.

Nesbitt said he had spoken to several ED staff over the past week, who told him “it’s either as bad as it’s ever been, or it’s actually worse than it’s ever been”.

It comes after New Year’s Eve figures revealed that more than half of the 892 people who attended the ED had to wait more than 12 hours.

On Thursday, Dr Clodagh Corrigan, deputy head of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, said: The effects of winter stress have filled the crew with dread for the coming weeks.

Nesbitt said he was also dreading the coming weeks “because the one thing that has put us in this incredibly difficult position is the flu”.

“Past modeling shows it’s not peaking for another one to two weeks, so we’re not in a good position at all,” he told BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster programme.

Nesbitt added that he is also concerned about staff morale.

“They didn’t sign up to provide this kind of service; they wanted something better.”

He added that patients expect “an appropriate level of privacy”, which “is not always the case in the ED due to the demanding nature of this time”.

There were about 400 people. Waiting for a hospital bed In Northern Ireland last week, flu and respiratory infections hit many people.

Community Pharmacy NI head Gerard Green said pharmacies were also “extremely busy at the moment”.

“We’re hearing people describe it as rampant,” he said.

“We’re seeing a lot of pressure, a lot of requests from patients coming into the pharmacies.”

Mr Green said people were paying attention to public messages from the Department of Health encouraging them to use the appropriate part of the health service for symptoms, for example, going to pharmacies early to get a prescription. Avoid stressing GPs, out-of-hours and EDs.

“We’re seeing a lot more people in pharmacies looking for advice and treatment,” he said.

“It’s about patient care. We’re trying to help and play our part in managing demand and taking the pressure off GPs, out of hours, etc.

“It’s about making the most of resources.

He said that pharmacy now offers a much wider range of services, enabling many conditions to be treated at pharmacy-first service pharmacies.

“More serious” conditions like UTIs can also be treated, he said, and pharmacies are offering pilot shingles services and vaccinations.