Conditions for patients and staff at Altnagelvin A&E branded an ‘utter disgrace’
The conditions facing patients and staff at Altnagelvin A&E have been branded an ‘utter disgrace’ as calls were renewed for a new Derry ED at Stormont.
SDLP MLA Daniel McLaughlin spoke of patients on floors and in corridors and the elderly and terminally ill enduring extremely long waits.
Nurses and doctors, he added, are being assaulted by those under the influence of drink and drugs.
Mr. McCrossan told MLAs he was informed three nurses were attacked in the ED last week.
“It can be described only as an utter disgrace. People across the area that I represent and far beyond who have to travel to the hospital with sick relatives or for themselves are fed up hearing language and excuses about pressures, challenges and demand being used to sanitise the horrific experiences that they have when they visit there.
“People sit on floors. Seriously ill patients line the corridors. There is one toilet in the emergency department waiting room — one. It is the oldest type of emergency department in this place. It is 41 years old. It was designed for 35,000 attendees a year; today, it is trying to cope with 70,000 to 80,000 attendees a year. That is not possible,” the West Tyrone MLA declared during Members’ Statements at Stormont on Monday.
He claimed that ‘elderly, frightened and vulnerable people spend hour after hour in conditions that strip them of their dignity’.
“Last week, an elderly gentleman spent 30 hours in that emergency department struggling to breathe. I am told that he went for long periods without being properly observed. He had pneumonia.
"As soon as the staff recognised that, he was taken to a ward, but he had sat there for 30 hours. A woman with terminal cancer was left sitting in the middle of all that madness. What on earth have we come to when we consider that acceptable? Where is the dignity? Where is the duty of care? Where is the health service that our people pay for, depend on and have every right to expect?” he asked.
The abuse of staff in the Derry ED was also raised by Mr. McCrossan.
"You then look at what the staff are asked to endure. Police are regularly required in the department. Staff deal with people who are heavily intoxicated with drugs or alcohol.
"The trust informed me that three nurses were attacked in the emergency department last week. Nurses and healthcare staff do not go in to do that work and save lives to be attacked for doing their job.
"Doctors and nurses should be treating patients, not firefighting chaos in a system that the Government have failed to resolve over and over again,” the West Tyrone MLA observed.
The cost of a new ED at Altnagelvin has previously been estimated at £72.8m and it was one of two priority capital projects bid for by the Western Trust as part of the budget process for 2026/27 to 2029/30. The WHSCT has submitted an Outline Business Case to the Department of Health for a replacement of what is now the oldest type-1 ED in the North.
Following Mr. McCrossan’s intervention in the Assembly the current minister Robbie Butler told the ‘Journal’ the progression of a new ED at Altnagelvin Hospital remained dependent on a capital allocation from the overdue budget process.
“Whilst I remain fully supportive of this hugely important project, my Department’s ability to commit to funding capital projects such as the redevelopment of the Emergency Department at Altnagelvin will depend on the Department of Health capital allocation from the Budget process.
"It remains a matter of deep regret to me that no Budget has yet been agreed,” said Butler.
Speaking at the Assembly on Monday Mr. McCrossan said: “Let us stop pretending that it is a new issue. In the House, we get angry, upset and frustrated about signs and language. Where is the outrage about this?
"Where is the outrage that we hear about marches when it comes to our health service? Where is the outrage when it comes to people who are dying and lack the dignity that they deserve, sitting in an emergency department in Derry?
"When we strip the services out of Fermanagh and South Tyrone, we add to the pressure in the Altnagelvin Area Hospital setting. That is not what people deserve, and it is not what we are elected to allow. We need solutions from the Executive, but the DUP and Sinn Féin continue to preside over the mess while picking holes in each other over things that mean little to people in their ordinary lives.”
After Mr. McCrossan raised the matter in the Assembly Mr. Butler said he was determined to reduce waiting times in EDs and to improve the experience for patients across the North.
"My long-term vision involves diverting patients to the most appropriate care pathways first time, to provide patients with the best care possible.
"This includes an increase in the number of same day care clinics, to ensure patients avoid unnecessary attendance at the ED, and strengthening community services like Hospital at Home, making sure people get the right care, in the right place, first time. I recognise that current waiting times are far too long, but there is no quick fix. I am committed to lasting improvement — backed by sustained effort, long-term funding, and support right across the political spectrum,” said the minister.