Mater Hospital children move may be permanent

The Belfast Health Trust announced on Friday that children under 14 would be directed from the Mater Hospital to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

A decision to no longer treat children at the Mater Hospital's emergency department in Belfast may become permanent.

The Belfast Health Trust announced on Friday that children under 14 would be directed to the Royal Belfast hospital for sick children.

The Belfast Trust said the Mater emergency department sees few children - about six a day.

They also announced ambulances would be diverted away from the Mater overnight.

The trust has said it is because of staffing pressures.

It said this was particularly in regards to middle grade staff and consultants and the trust said it would be reviewing the situation.

It only applies to ambulance admissions and the emergency department has remained open to those arriving on foot.

The announcement that all children attending the department would be directed to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children about two miles away applies to all children, including those going on foot.

The trust believes the fact that there is no specialist paediatric nurses or doctors at the Mater means it is safer to advise the public to go straight to the Royal.

'Duty to act'

Health Minister Simon Hamilton was asked about the Mater in the assembly on Monday.

"The overnight diverts of ambulances from the Mater are expected to remain in place as a temporary measure and children will be redirected to the nearby Royal Hospital for Sick Children which has a dedicated paediatric emergency department," he said.

"The Belfast Trust seeks to address the concerns identified and recruit senior medical staff.

"If clinicians are coming to me and coming to my department and they are saying that a service as it's being in the short or longer-term is unsafe, then I have a duty to listen to them and I've a duty to act."

However, Unison representative Eoin Stewart, who works at the hospital, said: "The union will fight this tooth and nail, but I'm asking the community to fight this tooth and nail, because what the Belfast Trust has to remember is that it was the local community that built this hospital."