Nesbitt: Resource funding in addition to £73m for capital build required for Altnagelvin A&E
Mike Nesbitt has pointed out funding for the day-to-day staffing and running cost of a new Altnagelvin Emergency Department (ED) will have to be found in addition to the projected £73m capital cost.
The Health Minister acknowledged the current A&E facility in Derry is currently operating ‘way beyond capacity’.
Mr. Nesbitt advised MLAs on Tuesday that the Western Trust submitted proposals in July of last year to re-phase an original project plan for a new ED.
"The budget cost for the initial phase is £73 million. The information provided by the trust to the Department was included in the capital budget bid submitted to the Department of Finance.
"My ability to commit funding will depend on the Department's capital allocation from the Budget process and the identification of sufficient recurrent funding to meet any additional resource costs associated with the facility. If sufficient capital and revenue funding is available, the trust will have to update and submit its outline business case to the Department for approval,” he said.
Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy observed how the Altnagelvin ED had originally been is built to serve the emergency care needs of 40,000 people, but currently sees 80,000 people a year.
"What can we do collectively in the Assembly to push things forward and ensure that there is an adequately sized and adequately resourced emergency department in Derry?” he asked.
Mr. Nesbitt replied: “I am aware that the numbers are way beyond what the capacity and the build were intended to meet.
"We are trying to create alternative pathways, such as urgent care, and to make sure that only people who really need the emergency department present there.
"I am aware that Altnagelvin is the oldest of the big emergency departments in the region. I have visited it when it has been extremely busy. It is nowhere near where we want it to be, not just for the patients but for the staff.
"I say again that they make decisions that are not the best decisions that they have been trained to provide but the least worst ones, because that is the environment in which they operate.”