NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Mark Brotherston, has urged the health minister to “get a grip” on the situation in Northern Ireland’s overstretched Accident & Emergency units.
“Last night the A & E at the Royal Victoria Hospital was forced to declare a ‘major incident’ in order to clear a backlog of patients and that is a warning for Edwin Poots”, Mark explained. “Our population is getting older, more sick patients are coming to emergency departments and more people are having to be admitted to hospital. The system is clearly struggling to cope and it’s up to the health minister to ensure that A & Es have the staff and the resources they need.”
“The NI Conservatives are broadly supportive of the aims of the Transforming Your Care strategy. We recognise that there is sometimes a need to centralise acute services in larger hospitals, in order that people get the best possible care. However it isn’t acceptable for more and more patients to be directed to fewer facilities, if the necessary resources aren’t there and they are struggling to cope. Ultimately the minister is responsible for ensuring that our hospitals have the staff and the resources they need. That has to be a key part of any strategy for the NHS and it has to be a key part of Transforming Your Care.”