A new Emergency Department for the hospital with the "longest waiting times" in Northern Ireland is at least five years away, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said.
The Minister said he is "fully supportive" of pleas for a new A&E at Altnagelvin and insisted "we will get a new ED" at the hospital in Derry. He said that a "realistic" estimated time frame would be at least five years.
He was speaking during a Stormont debate on the woes faced by patients at Altnagelvin, described by Foyle MLA Padraig Delargy as the hospital with the "longest waiting times of any emergency department in the north".
Read more: Plan for Altnagelvin A&E new build must be 'expedited', says Foyle MLA
The Sinn Fein MLA said: "Altnagelvin Hospital has the oldest emergency department in the North. It was built to see 40,000 patients a year, and it now sees between 70,000 and 80,000. Derry is the heart of the north-west region. We have seen what can be achieved when we deliver healthcare on a joined-up, all-Ireland basis. We have seen the change that the North West Cancer Centre (NWCC) and coronary care services deliver when we look at provision in that context. It has significantly enhanced the lives of people in our area and, as the evidence shows, delivers more effective health outcomes.
"Recent changes in circumstances have added to Altnagelvin's workload. They include the removal of general and emergency services and general emergency surgery at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH); the reduction in orthopaedic and urology consultancy at Antrim Hospital; and no max-facs care in Sligo. In addition, Altnagelvin has been the trauma centre for the north-west and the point for coastguard referrals. We need an adequately sized and adequately resourced emergency department."
He continued: "Altnagelvin has reported the longest waiting times of any emergency department in the North. From arrival to admission, Derry's accident and emergency waiting time was 19 hours and 52 minutes in 2021, while it was 19 hours and 58 minutes in 2023. Those figures do not accurately reflect the reality, because some coronary care incidents, strokes and accidents are admitted straight away or referred to Belfast, which distorts the figures.
"In achieving a new emergency department at Altnagelvin, we need to future-proof it to ensure that we do not face the same problems in years to come. We need a flexible plan to cope with population growth and increased demand. It is about the impact that that has on individuals, however. It is about those in mental health crisis, children, older people, those with chronic conditions and those with dementia."
He added: "Building a new emergency department in Altnagelvin will not happen overnight, but we need to work together to get the business case agreed and fast-tracked. We cannot stand still until that happens. Today, I ask the Health Minister to commission more inpatient beds in Altnagelvin; to look at a recruitment strategy that mirrors the demographic trends and meets the guidelines for tackling health inequality that the Department of Health has published; and to ensure that there are clear pathways for patients who need nursing home and domiciliary care packages. I thank the Minister for being here today and sincerely hope that we can work together to deliver."
The Minister replied: " I am fully supportive — fully supportive — of the need for a new emergency department at Altnagelvin Hospital. I am aware of the depth of concern and feeling that surrounds the issue. I was there recently. I have been to six EDs since Christmas. I will be in the South West Acute Hospital — the SWAH — tomorrow. While they are all different — Altnagelvin, as we have acknowledged, is the oldest, which presents its own infrastructure problems — there is a commonality that I have picked up from all six.
"Patients who check in are not just asked for their health and care number: far too many of them are also asked to surrender their dignity and their right to privacy. When I was in Altnagelvin, I talked to the wife of a patient. The two of them had been in chairs for four days. Four days. That is not right, and it is not fair on the staff — the nurses and doctors — who are suffering moral injury, because they know what they can do."
He continued: "As Mr Delargy said, it was built to support approximately 35,000 patients per annum. It is probably receiving double or just over double that number. We will get a new ED at Altnagelvin. If I am being realistic, I think that five years is the quickest time in which it could be done."
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