Nesbitt says Altnagelvin needs new ED after encountering patient on chairs in corridor for four days

“I saw people at Altnagelvin this morning [January 7] among whom was a man who had been sitting for four days in the same chair since Friday — four days,” the Health Minister told the Stormont Health Committee following a visit to the Derry A&E Department.

"That chair was in the corridor, so where was the dignity and the privacy? There were three small plastic chairs side by side with a set of blankets and a pillow on them.

"The patient had, obviously, gone off to do something. Another example at Altnagelvin is the washing facilities. I think that there are two toilets in the ED.

"There are no washing facilities for people who are in there for day after day. I know that I am digressing a bit here, but we need a new ED at Altnagelvin. It will get one, but it is probably five years away,” said Mr. Nesbitt.

The Health Minister pointed out to the committee that the ED at Altnagelvin is the oldest such facility in the North.

He told the committee a common theme across all A&Es in the North is that ‘patients arrive with a reasonable expectation that they will not have to surrender their dignity and privacy, but that is often the case in these times of crisis’.

"The common theme among the staff there is that patients who come in are suffering physical and mental harm because they spend much longer than they should in an ED.

"Of course, that, by definition, is bad for them, but it also makes the challenge of offering them cures more difficult, because the problem becomes more profound.

"That impacts on the moral injury to staff that I was talking about, because they see it as they go about their shifts, and it really hurts. I get that,” said the Health Minister.

The WHSCT has submitted a proposal for a new ED at Altnagelvin, however, last year Mr. Nesbitt’s predecessor Robin Swann said the development of one would depend on ‘budget affordability’.

New A&E at Altnagelvin hangs on 'budget affordability' says Swann