Health Minister Nesbitt concerned at lack of dedicated delirium beds with zero in Western Trust
There are no dedicated delirium beds in the Western Trust and only six within the National Health Service in the North as a whole.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said the shortage in provision across the health system is a concern.
“The Southern Trust and Western Trust have advised that they have no specific designated ring-fenced delirium beds. However, they manage delirium patients within their bed cohort,” Mr. Nesbitt told the Assembly.
The minister advised there are six beds within The Roddens in Ballymoney in the Northern Trust.
Belfast and the South Eastern Trust, meanwhile, have contracts with the independent sector for 12 and 10 beds respectively.
DUP MLA Paul Frew said: “There could be hundreds of people a year contracting delirium. How does the fact that there are only 28 beds — only six within the NHS — impact on waiting times in other wards?
"How can the Minister be sure that people are being diagnosed correctly and receiving the appropriate pathway to care in respect of delirium or some of the other long-term conditions, such as Alzheimer's and the like?”
Mr. Nesbitt replied: “I have every confidence in the clinicians, specialists and workforce who are conducting the diagnoses of these patients. The shortage of beds is, of course, a concern to me, but that plays into the wider concern about the capacity gap compared with the demand for health and social care (HSC) services.”
He said work was ongoing to assess demand and that the ‘answer tends to be that it is going to go up’.
"Delirium is in with a broader area of mental health challenges...delirium is a specific disturbance of brain function. It is a state of sudden confusion and change in a person's behaviour and alertness that poses particular risks not only for the patient but, perhaps, for those around them,” he explained.
According to the NHS delirium, or sudden confusion, can have many different causes and people are advised to get medical help immediately if someone suddenly becomes confused or delirious.
Causes can include infections, stroke, low blood sugar, head injury, some types of prescription medicine, alcohol poisoning, drugs, carbon monoxide poisoning, severe asthma attack, lung or heart problems and epilepsy.