THE Health Minister Mike Nesbitt is to face questions over the “failure” of winter planning at an emergency meeting of Stormont’s health committee.
It follows reports of intense pressure in emergency departments in recent days.
Alliance MLA and health committee member, Nuala McAllister, said ahead of Tuesday’s meeting: “The pressures on A&E and ambulance services the past few days, whilst not new, we know they may not be yet at the winter pressure peak, we need action on how best to help staff and patients.”
The Health Minister will be coming to an emergency meeting of health committee tomorrow.
— Nuala McAllister MLA (@NualaMcAllister) January 6, 2025
The pressures on A&E and ambulance services the past few days, whilst not new, we know they may not be yet at the winter pressure peak, we need action on how best to help staff & patients https://t.co/C8kNKymUXL
Her party colleague, Danny Donnelly MLA, added: “It’s clear that winter planning been a failure.
“Patients are facing unacceptable waits for treatment and staff are under huge pressure.”
On Monday, the BBC reported that two elderly patients at the emergency department at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital had been waiting for over five days.
On Sunday night, it was further reported that over 500 patients who were medically fit were unable to be discharged as there was no suitable care for them in the community.
More than 400 people attending Northern Ireland’s emergency departments were also told to expect a minimum of 12 hours for a hospital bed.
With winter flu figures yet to peak in Northern Ireland, the vice chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland – Dr Michael Perry – said it was “impossible to manage” the level of demand in emergency departments.
“Every department in this country will tell you there’s been patients waiting for three or four days,” he added.
“We are at the worst we’ve ever been, regarding the headlines today, to emergency medical staff, we knew this was going to happen, it hasn’t surprised us because this has been the trend for so long.
“There’s just no physical space to bring people in to get them assessed.”
SDLP opposition health spokesperson, Colin McGrath MLA, said the entire Executive needed to take responsibility for the current crisis, and accused the health minister of ignoring repeated warnings from those within the health service.
“The emergency meeting of the health committee is all well and good, but I would ask the executive parties how this meeting will help those currently waiting hours in an emergency department,” he said.
“What we really need to see is executive ministers around the table to sort this mess out. We are in this position now because the executive and the health minister did not heed warnings from those within our health service that we were facing the most difficult winter yet.“
He called the health ministers’ winter preparedness plan in November “too little, too late” and that the executive had “sat on their hands”.
“Ultimately, it is the executive parties’ failure to seriously implement the much-needed health service transformation that has left us in this position and unless they begin this process we will find ourselves in the same crisis again next year.”
The health and social care system continues to experience severe pressure on services.
— Department of Health (@healthdpt) December 29, 2024
The Department, on behalf of the HSC, apologises to all patients who are waiting longer than they should and thanks patients and families for their continuing co-operation.… pic.twitter.com/x65AxNqLeQ
In December, the department apologised to patients facing long delays and appealed to the public to use services appropriately, get vaccines if eligible, cooperate with hospital discharge processes and look after their health.
The health minister added that the winter preparedness plan could only mitigate the pressures, and that longer term solutions require both investment and reform.
