Virus spread affects six hospitals in province

The virus which has caused a crisis in Northern Ireland’s health service is spreading and has affected six hospitals throughout the four health board areas.

Politicians from both sides of the community have been calling for an emergency task force to be set up to tackle the crisis and a radical overhaul of existing services and structures.

On Wednesday, two more hospitals - Altnagelvin in Londonderry and Whitebabbey in County Antrim - said they feared wards had become infected with the virus and had stopped taking in new patients.

The virus, which causes nausea and diarrhoea, has infected the hospitals at a time when they are already struggling to cope with an increased number of patients because of winter associated illnesses.

The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Downe Hospital in Downpatrick, Lagan Valley in County Antrim and the Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh are also affected.

The Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety Bairbre de Brún has defended staff that she said are working under “extreme pressure”. In defence of her Department she said: “People ask why we have these crises when we know that the winter always brings an upsurge in activity and when we are seeing these problems on a more frequent basis at other times of the year as well.

“The answer is that we do not have the luxury of being able to carry any spare capacity in our system to meet the levels of demand we are now experiencing. In spite of some additional funding allocations, we do not have the money at present to make the necessary investment in building up our capacity. We will continue to deal with problems as they arise, but until we have the necessary capacity in community and hospital services, we will not be in a position to prevent problems arising.

SDLP Councillor Patsy McGlone has called for immediate action from the Minister for Health and has hit out at Ms de Brún.

He said: “This is a crisis and obviously is as much about lack of strategy and management of resources as it is about lack of resources. The Health Service despite its many levels of management from Departments to Trusts – is a headless chicken.

“It is a long past time for a clear strategy. The Stormont honeymoon is over. It’s high time we saw some progress from those with direct responsibility for this crumbling Health Service, starting with a clear plan of action form the Minister.”

Monica McWilliams from the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition has also called for urgent action and funding to rescue the Health Service. Speaking on Thursday Ms McWilliams echoed the SDLP Joe Hendron's call for an emergency task force to be created in order to turn this crisis around. (AMcE)