The Upper Bann MLA said, “Back in May the Minister told me “Reducing ambulance handover delays outside emergency departments has been a key priority”. Yet the latest Northern Ireland Audit Office report is devastating.
The ongoing self-sabotage of our health system has to end. Where is the strategic thinking? Sick patients in ambulances can’t get into hospital because hundreds of well patients can’t leave. It is absurd, and must not be allowed to continue.
I have been calling for just under a year now for the Minister to appoint a senior figure with a dedicated team to address delayed hospital discharges. Until the delayed discharge issue is resolved, our hospitals, EDs and ambulance service will only ever be operating at a fraction of their real capacity.
I have tabled questions to the Minister on the impact of delayed handovers, which have yet to be answered, some extending to months now since they were tabled. I have been seeking figures on the number of road hours lost last year, particularly over the Christmas and New Year period. I also asked about whether statistics promised previously by the Health Minister ever emerged: “as part of Winter planning arrangements, ambulance handover information made available to the public on a fortnightly basis via the Departmental website”.
From January to August last year there were no Saturday nights when Northern Ireland had a full rota of emergency ambulance crews. NIAS aims to have 52 crews on a "typical Saturday", but on three occasions there were just 36 in place. A more strategic approach is clearly required to get our ambulance service and broader health service back on track”.