£5m investment for Northern Board hospitals

The government has today announced that an initial sum of £5 million is to be invested to kick-start the reshaping and modernising of hospital services available to people in the Northern Board area.

Health Minister Paul Goggins said these upfront costs were the beginning of a 10-year investment programme of some £300 million for the area.

Plans for the Antrim Area Hospital include an additional 200 beds and the provision of more local services such as trauma (fractures) and orthopaedics.

Along with the Causeway, the hospitals will continue to provide the majority of elective and emergency inpatient care such as accident and emergency treatment, general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology, ENT and coronary care.

Mid-Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals will play a key role in supporting acute services at Antrim Area and Causeway Hospitals, with day surgery, day procedures, diagnostics and outpatient services will continue to be provided locally on these sites.

Inpatient services for the elderly and nurse-led minor injuries services will also be established and diagnostic services will include x-ray, blood tests, barium meal tests, ultrasound, endoscopies, CT scans and ECG.

However, the maternity unit and the 24-hour accident and emergency department at the Mid Ulster is to be closed and Whiteabbey Hospital's accident and emergency department will be closed at 5pm.

Announcing this investment, Paul Goggins said: “This £5 million will help progress this huge development programme in the Northern Board area and will primarily be used to establish design and management teams.

“It will enable the Northern Board to plan for new facilities that are of the highest standard and so help improve and modernise the acute and local health service in the area."

He continued: “Together with my recent announcement within the primary and community sector these investments have the objective of providing a high quality, effective and sustainable hospital service complemented by primary and community care services.”

Referring to the recent public consultation by United Hospitals Trust on proposed changes to services at Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals, the Minister said: “I know people in the Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey areas are concerned about the future of their local hospitals.

"I hope today’s announcement will reassure them that Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals both have very important futures as Local Hospitals, supporting acute services and providing a range of services to their local communities.”

However a spokeswoman for the Friends of Mid-Ulster group, which is campaigning to save acute services at the Magherafelt hospital, said that the decision to leave such a large community without an A&E unit after 11pm, was wrong.

Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein MP for Mid Ulster, said that his party would fight to retain services at the local hospital.

(EF/SP)