Accident and emergency provision in Northern Ireland must be reviewed in the face of rising patient numbers and waiting times, it was claimed today.
With 30,000 more people attending A&E compared to four years ago and the number of patients forced to wait more than 12 hours for treatment trebling in two years, there is a need to reassess acute services, Assembly member Tommy Gallagher said.
The SDLP's health spokesman was reacting to the publication of the emergency care statistics for the year 2009/10.
The figures showed the total number of attendances at emergency care departments last year was up by 4 per cent from 2005/06 — from 698,937 to 727,935.
They also highlighted that number of new and unplanned review attendances at emergency care departments who had to wait over 12 hours more than tripled from 982 to 3,880 between 2007/08 and last year.
Mr Gallagher said the need for a review was even more pressing given the recent closures of certain A&E services, such as those provided at Whiteabbey and Mid Ulster hospitals.
"The latest figures show that pressure on A&E departments is increasing during a time when the Department of Health is decreasing services right across the North," he said.
"There is clearly unprecedented strain on A&E staff and services at the moment, backed up by these latest figures, and on another level we are facing closure of A&E departments and the stripping of further acute services.
"The figures show a 4 per cent rise in A&E attendees." He said Health Minister Michael McGimpsey needed to work out the extent of co-ordination across the different parts of the health service.
PA