THERE are concerns Altnagelvin Hospital is struggling to cope with the influx of Fermanagh patients being sent up from the SWAH for emergency general surgery (EGS).
There are no current official figures for how many local patients are being sent to the SWAH, as Fermanagh patients are deemed new ‘walk ins’ at the Derry hospital rather than being recorded as SWAH transfers.
However, it has been repeatedly noted that since the suspension of EGS at the SWAH, Altnagelvin has been experiencing increasing pressure.
“Not a week passes when I’m not contacted about the crisis facing Altnagelvin A&E. I called on the Health Minister to take action to alleviate those pressures,” Derry MLA Mark Durkan recently stated.
“Week on week overcrowded emergency rooms mean that patients are treated in hospital corridors, stripped of their dignity and those are the lucky patients.
“Others are forced to wait through the day and night before being seen. Staff are past breaking point, they’re broken.”
An Altnagelvin nurse has also stated on record how staff are repeatedly reporting to management about the pressure facing the hospital.
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