By Niamh McGovern
A SEVERE shortage of nursing home spaces has been identified as the leading cause of delayed patient discharges in Northern Ireland, compounding pressure on already overwhelmed emergency departments.
The Western Health Trust’s chief executive, Neil Guckian, addressed the issue during a board meeting on Thursday, revealing that over 500 patients across the region were unable to leave hospitals on the previous Sunday night despite being medically fit.
The backlog is straining hospitals, with more than 1,000 people in Northern Ireland’s nine emergency departments at one point on last Monday evening, compared to 800 the previous day. Of those, 415 were waiting for a hospital bed.
Addressing pressures at the recent Western Health Trust board meeting, was Chief Executive, Neil Guckian: “Over the past month, the trust have experienced periods of extreme pressure, with high numbers of patients waiting on a bed.
“In recent days we have had 53 patients waiting on a bed in Altnagelvin and 22 in South West Acute Hospital.”
One major message that Mr Guckian wanted to make clear was that emergency departments are ‘open for business’.
“Should you need the services within our emergency department, you should attend and we will look after you,” he said, before extending an apology to all those affected by the delays.
“I do want to apologise on behalf of the Trust, to all patients and their families for the delays in our flow and the consequent impact on care.
“Lack of nursing home places is the dominant reason for delay and reviews show that we have significantly less capacity in nursing homes than other comparable trusts.”
According to the chief executive, an independent review has also shown that the hospital Altnagelvin is short by up to 60 beds – a gap which is rising every year.
“The above, combined with flu and Covid viruses circulating in the community has led to increased pressure on our services, staff and beds.
“I would encourage anyone who can avail of vaccinations, to protect themselves and our services by getting vaccinated.
“Since I’ve written this report, the minister has made it clear that the flu vaccination will be made available to everyone over 50 in Northern Ireland in the coming days, weeks and months.”
Mr Guckian also acknowledged the added challenges presented by adverse weather, particularly on Monday when the Trust needed to draft in additional staff.
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