WITH the health crisis deepening, the Western Trust was forced to issue an urgent workforce appeal as a result of unfilled nursing shifts at the SWAH at the weekend.
The appeal was issued by the Trust for both SWAH and Altnagelvin over three days at the weekend.
When contacted by the Herald, a Trust spokesman confirmed it had issued a call for staff to cover the unfilled shifts from Friday, October 29th until Monday, November 1st. The appeal asked for any staff that were available to cover a shift and currently held a bank contract to urgently contact their Bank Office.
“This call is the latest in a series as health trusts across Northern Ireland endure a sustained and well publicised period of increased pressures,” the spokesman told the Herald.
“The Western Trust would take this opportunity to remind the public that the Emergency Departments at Altnagelvin Area Hospital and South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen continue to be extremely busy,” they added.
“As we continue to deal with these pressures, it is important that anyone who is medically fit for discharge are able to leave the hospital as quickly and efficiently as possible and that family are able to facilitate patients getting home.”
In a video appeal to the local public on Friday, when the local ED saw over 46 people waiting to be seen and 25 patients waiting admission, SWAH ED consultant Dr Darren Lillis made the same plea to patients’ families.
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link https://bit.ly/3gOl8G0
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