Craigavon Area Hospital: ED open again to all ambulances

A second ambulance diversion at Craigavon Area Hospital has ended.

The Southern Trust diverted emergency vehicles, except in cases of patients facing immediate life-threatening situations, on Monday morning.

It was the second time in 24 hours the hospital had to implement measures due to "extreme pressure" on its wards.

Hospitals in the Southern Health Trust area are "absolutely on the edge", a senior official has said.

Chief executive Shane Devlin told BBC News NI the trust was "exceptionally close" to declaring a major incident.

Ambulances were first diverted away from Craigavon Area Hospital on Sunday evening, until 22:00 GMT.

Mr Devlin said staff were exhausted due to the huge demand on hospital services.

"We were very, very close to needing radical action," he said.

• Ambulances diverted due to hospital pressures

• Patient faces 44-hour wait at Ulster Hospital ED

There were 108 people in the emergency department at the peak on Sunday - 32 of those required admission to a ward but just three beds were available, said Mr Devlin.

On Monday morning, he said there were 48 patients who had been waiting for more than 12 hours in the emergency departments at Craigavon Area Hospital and Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry.

The two hospitals also have 141 Covid-19 inpatients, 123 of whom are in Craigavon.

Mr Devlin said the health system could not cope with the demands of a major incident, which would have involved calling extra staff in and moving patients to other hospitals.

"We would not have had anywhere to move our patients to and our staff were all in," he said.

The chief executive said the numbers of Covid-19 patients had left the hospital system "absolutely on the edge".

"Each Covid patient takes up three times the resource that the average medical patient would have done - that has resulted quite clearly in our ability to flow patients through our hospital," he said.

"If we can start to get Covid patients moving through and also stop Covid patients arriving - hopefully by them not having Covid that requires hospitalisation - we can start to try and get our hospital back in balance.

"I wish I could provide every patient with a gold standard service, and during a pandemic, which is what this is, I cannot do that."

Mr Devlin said he believed people would "come to harm" as a result of the situation.

Mr Devlin said he believed people would "come to harm"

He confirmed that the vast majority of those who had been exceptionally unwell with Covid-19 in the trust's hospitals had not been vaccinated for the virus.

Mr Devlin urged people to consider alternatives before going to Craigavon Area Hospital on Monday and said it would take time to get the hospital "flowing" again.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart urged the public to phone first before making their way to hospitals.

"This can help direct patients to the most appropriate care for their health need and ensure those attending A&E are those who need to attend A&E, rather than a GP or other service," said Ms Lockhart.

The Upper Bann MP also thanked front-line medical staff who were working "under the most challenging conditions".

"They are worn out, mentally and physically exhausted, yet continue to deliver the best possible care for those in need," she said.

• Patient faces 44-hour wait at Ulster Hospital ED

• 'Extremely long' waiting times at A&E

SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly described the situation at the hospital on Sunday night as "horrific" and should have been declared a major incident.

Speaking on BBC Radio Foyle, the Upper Bann MLA said Covid-19 pressures and workforce issues had caused a "perfect storm".

"If more staff were available they could open more beds.

"I warned eight or nine years ago of the way in which the trust's managed in terms of short-term temporary contracts, how they manage their budgets," she said.

The chairman of the British Medical Association said easing Covid-19 restrictions had put hospitals under extreme pressure

Ms Kelly added: "It is a crisis facing the whole executive and we need the joint first ministers to step up."

She said Craigavon Area Hospital "has been promised a new hospital for a number of years now".

"But what we have seen is a piecemeal implementation rather than a huge effort going into a new hospital".

Dr Tom Black, the chairman of the British Medical Association's Northern Ireland branch, said easing Covid-19 restrictions had put hospitals under extreme pressure.

"We did warn about this two or three weeks ago when there was an easing of restrictions and we opened up society to eating and drinking and dancing without masks," he said.

"We said the consequences of that would be in three weeks' time when we would see the hospital system overwhelmed."