Mrs Dodds said,
“When the Minister appears at the emergency meeting of the Health Committee it’s important he comes with answers rather than platitudes and apologies. Last night in Northern Ireland 800 people were waiting in Emergency Departments with 400 of them stuck until a bed could be found. Over 60 had already been waiting more than 12 hrs at Craigavon ED, and more than 50 in Antrim.
The Department’s published plan for winter pressures has proven utterly inadequate, and few will take comfort from the Minister’s promise to start planning in February for next winter.
The numbers attending EDs don’t appear to be significantly higher than last year, but patients aren’t progressing through hospitals. Last March when I uncovered that 628 patients fit to leave hospital were having their discharge delayed, I was told that Trusts would be performance managed on delayed discharges and an unscheduled care forum had been established to actively address the issues.
Despite this, on 27th November when my colleague Alan Robinson and I met the Chief Executive of the Northern Trust we were told on that day 26% of all beds in Antrim Hospital were occupied by patients deemed fit for discharge.
In Northern Ireland we are investing more per capita on health care than other parts of the UK yet local taxpayers are not improvements from that investment. Staff are also suffering as they are working within a system that is broken.
Reform is vital, but more than eight years after the Bengoa report there is still dither rather than action. All we are getting are consultation events on a reheated document published in the autumn, whilst in England plans have been outlined to cut waiting lists there which are already much lower than they are here.
While people are marooned here in EDs for several days, in England they are offering patients community diagnostic centres open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to book scans after work and at weekends, and creating 14 new surgical hubs. They plan two million extra appointments by the end of next year, and patients will be able to use the NHS App to choose from different providers. Wearable technology and AI will assist with efficiency, and the fastest NHS trusts to cut waiting times will be rewarded with more funding for investment in local projects.
We have called for a dedicated team to be established to address delayed discharges. He must take a grip of the situation as it is today and begin takin action, not just looking at what plans might be made for next year.”