Covid-19: High ED figures show 'people are very, very sick'

A third Northern Ireland hospital has urged people to stay away except in cases of medical emergency.

On Sunday the Western Trust said 38 people were waiting in the South West Acute Hospital's emergency department and 15 waiting to be admitted.

The Ulster and Craigavon Hospitals also said they were under extreme pressure.

Dr Alan Stout, British Medical Association NI's GP committee chair, said this was a sign of just how sick people are.

He said it was not about access to GPs, and patients "largely needed to be in ED".

On Sunday 45 patients were waiting for a bed at Craigavon Hospital, and 100 were waiting in the emergency department.

In a tweet, the Southern Trust said to expect "extremely long waiting times" and that Covid-19 was adding "significantly to bed pressures".

Nine coronavirus-related deaths and 1,225 new cases were reported in Northern Ireland on Sunday.

South Eastern Trust tweeted that the Ulster Hospital's emergency department was "under extreme pressure".

Dr Stout said the high number waiting for admission to Craigavon Hospital was "shocking" for late summer.

"These are sick patients who've turned up in ED, have been assessed and a decision has been made by a senior doctor that they need admitted.

"By definition they're sick, sick people needing admission."

Dr Stout said the long weekend was "always a factor" but not the whole reason for the high number.

"It really is a sign of just how busy the entire system is - it's easy [to say it's] all about access to GPs which we appreciate is difficult, access to anything is difficult at the moment, but these are very, very sick people in EDs, hospitals are struggling to discharge people so they can't free up the beds.

"We have high, high Covid numbers and we have very significant numbers of other people needing urgent attention."