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Nearly six in 10 patients at one of Northern Ireland’s busiest emergency departments were left waiting and unable to be admitted because of a lack of beds, Department of Health figures show.
Data released by the Department of Health shows that 58% of ED patients at Altnagelvin Hospital’s Emergency Department were waiting for admission to a ward across the six-week period between late November and early January, highlighting a bed-blocking crisis in the north’s health system.
On individual days, the situation was even more acute – Altnagelvin’s bed-blocking rate exceeded 60% on 13 separate occasions, peaking at 68% on December 18th when 44 of the 65 ED patients were simply waiting for a bed.
At Altnagelvin, this bed shortage meant that on some days, up to 70 patients at noon were medically ready for admission but had nowhere to go.
At the Causeway Hospital, almost half (47%) of ED patients over the period were waiting for beds, while at Antrim Area Hospital the figure stood at 45%.
Meanwhile, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, more than one in four ED patients (27%) were stuck waiting for admission rather than receiving emergency treatment.
The figures, recorded at 12pm each day over the six-week period, show that on December 1 alone, 1,014 patients were waiting across all nine Emergency Departments in Northern Ireland – with 333 of them simply waiting for a bed to become available.
Across the period, 8,401 of the 22,494 patient waits recorded were people waiting for admission rather than emergency care, representing more than one in three (37%) of all emergency department waits.
The data reveals stark differences between the north’s hospitals.
While Altnagelvin recorded the highest proportion of patients waiting for beds at 58% over the six weeks, the Royal Victoria Hospital managed to keep the figure at 27% despite handling higher patient volumes.
The Ulster Hospital saw 29% of its ED patients waiting for admission, while the Mater Hospital recorded 32%.
SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath said: “These figures expose the reality facing patients across Northern Ireland every single day. Every day when hospitals should be clearing pressure and preparing for the daily surge, hundreds of people are already waiting in emergency departments, with many stuck simply waiting for a bed.
“This is not about inappropriate attendances or people turning up at the wrong place. These are patients who need to be admitted but cannot move because there is no capacity in the system. Emergency departments have become holding bays for a health service that has run out of beds.
“Week after week, hospital after hospital, we see the same pattern repeated. Delayed discharges, under-resourced social care and workforce shortages are creating a logjam that blocks the entire system, leaving patients on Emergency Department trolleys and in corridors for hours or even days.
“The Health Minister continues to point to short-term initiatives and demand management, but this data shows that approach isn’t working. Until the Executive properly invests in hospital capacity, workforce retention and social care, these scenes will remain the norm rather than the exception.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Services face pressure throughout the year, but they are more severe in winter. This is a complex problem with no quick fix but the only medium to long term solution is to reduce demand and manage demand differently.
“That means reducing the number of people coming through ED doors as well as getting people out of hospital as soon as they are fit for discharge to free up beds.
“Our Reset Plan is attempting, over the next three years, to refocus our work towards earlier support and intervention, prevention, providing neighbourhood-based care and encouraging people to take more responsibility for their own health on a routine basis.
“We recognise however that this will take time to have an impact and it is not helped by the very challenging financial position.”
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