Public To Be Consulted On Emergency Care Provision

The public is to be consulted on the provision of emergency care services in Northern Ireland amid a Department of Health review of the area.

Urgent and emergency care provided at hospital Emergency Departments across the region as well as GP out-of-hours services and Minor Injury Units will be open to scrutiny.

The ongoing review, led by ED consultant at the Royal Victoria and Mater Hospitals John Maxwell, has involved discussions with clinicians, Royal Colleges and service users.

A health service summit on emergency care is planned for June to discuss the findings and identify possible solutions to inform the public consultation on the new models of care.

It comes in the wake of the Bengoa Report which identified urgent and emergency care as one of the specialties "in most need of reform".

DoH Permanent Secretary Richard Pengelly said: "Our emergency departments continue to face serious pressures, as my colleagues across the system can testify. The level of pressure usually experienced at winter is now lasting throughout the year, and is showing no signs of letting up.

"Experience elsewhere would indicate that the answer is not to simply build bigger units, add more beds and keep trying to recruit more staff. Many people who currently attend emergency departments do not have life-threatening emergency care needs, and could be dealt with more effectively in different settings, but there is currently nowhere else for them to turn.

"We need fundamental reform – including developing alternative routes to treatment, care and admission for our older citizens.

"This is not about simply looking at the future of individual hospital sites, but at how the system works as a whole. That includes assessing how well defined the roles of emergency departments currently are and examining the potential for more urgent treatment centres, similar to the facility at Omagh Hospital."

The review was launched following a Population Health Needs Assessment. It highlighted that demographic change is a major factor behind growing demand for urgent and emergency care, with pressures due to intensify significantly in the coming years.

For example, during the 10 years between 2016 and 2026, the NI population is projected to grow by a further 77,600. Of this increase, the rise in the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 74,500.



(JG/CM)