Hospital to see emergency care hours cut

Emergency medical care hours will be cut at Lagan Valley Hospital from today because of a shortage of staff, it has been revealed today.

The reduction from 24-hour cover to exclude early morning and overnight is expected to last several months as efforts to recruit doctors to the Lisburn centre continue, a spokeswoman for the South Eastern Health and Social Services Trust said.

In July, Health Minister Edwin Poots announced plans which could end emergency treatment at Belfast City Hospital as part of wider reforms to how the health service is delivered.

A spokeswoman for the South Eastern Trust said: "Despite extensive efforts to sustain services as normal, the Health and Social Care Board has agreed with the South Eastern Trust that temporary changes proposed by the trust are necessary.

"The board has been working with all trusts, including Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, to ensure that the changes can happen smoothly and safely.

"The board will continue to work with the trust to see if improvements can be made to opening times.

"A key priority for the board has been to ensure emergency provision is available to the population in the greater Lisburn area."

From Monday, the emergency department at Lagan Valley changes from operating 24-hours to opening from 9am to 8pm, seven days a week, because of the shortage of medical staff, the spokeswoman added.

The staffing difficulties include unexpected absences, problems in obtaining suitably qualified locum doctor cover, reductions in the hours which medical staff can work because of the European Working Time Regulations and changes in clinical practice which have led to increasing specialisation.

The health minister has defended proposals which could mean the end of accident and emergency services at Belfast City Hospital.

Mr Poots said there was an issue over a lack of consultants at the hospital, which had left a question mark over the viability of its A&E.

About 42,000 people visited City Hospital's A&E department last year.

Mr Poots conceded that its closure could lead to a problem with capacity but said there was no issue with staffing levels since those at the City would move to the Royal Victoria Hospital.

He said there could be difficulties over whether there was enough room at the Royal to deal with the extra patients.

Proposals to close the City A&E by October will be discussed in the coming months.

The Minister added that there was a problem across the North with too many hospitals and not enough junior doctors.

"It is not always your local hospital that is best to treat you. On some occasions, you will get a better service driving past the nearest hospital to the one that is best suited to your needs," he said.

Figures from the North's Department of Health show a seven-fold increase in the number of people who have had to wait more than 12 hours for treatment at casualty departments.

Mr Poots wants to reduce the number of people going to A&E because they are unable to get an appointment with their GP quickly enough.

He said a minority of people treated A&E like a "drop-in centre".

Ulster Unionist former Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has called on the new minister to postpone his decision until building projects at the Ulster Hospital and Royal Victoria Hospital have been completed.