Downe’s urgent care centre may stay open 24/7

Downe’s urgent care centre may stay open 24/7

29 May 2024

THE Downe Hospital’s urgent care centre could soon be open seven days a week.

The South Eastern Trust has confirmed that it is giving “serious consideration” to extending the service to include weekends in a bid to help ease pressure on ambulance waiting times at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald where many local patients are taken.

And in a double boost for the area, senior health chiefs are also considering opening a new 10-bed inpatient unit at the Downe.

Currently, the consultant-led urgent care centre at the Downpatrick hospital opens from 8am to 6pm between Monday and Friday, with patients having to speak with staff by telephone before they are either asked to attend or make their way to Dundonald, depending on their condition.

The suggestion to run the urgent care service seven days a week, extend its daily operating time by two hours until 8pm and increase in-patient bed numbers was made by South Down MP Chris Hazzard.

He is delighted the local health trust is “very keen to take forward” his proposals which he put to senior health administrators recently following extensive engagement with staff, patients and the wider community. 

Mr Hazzard has thanked the trust’s senior management team for its recent engagement on the Downe and for listening to the concerns of patients, staff and local people. 

He confirmed that during his recent visit to the hospital, he urged officials to examine the possibility of opening an additional 10-bed inpatient unit in order to keep more patients in the local area.

Mr Hazzard argued that such a move would simultaneously offer long overdue opportunities for nursing staff who were redeployed to the Ulster and Lagan Valley hospitals during Covid-19 to return home to the Downe. 

“I also proposed that the urgent care centre’s opening should be extended to seven  days per week between 8am and 8pm in order to reduce ambulance presentations at the Ulster Hospital and greatly improve patient access to the Downe,” he continued.

Mr Hazzard said he’s encouraged that the health trust’s chief executive, Roisin Coulter – who is due to address hospital campaigners in Downpatrick next week – has given his proposals “serious consideration” in collaboration with her senior officials.

The MP confirmed that Ms Coulter has confirmed to him in writing that the organisation is “very keen” to take the proposals forward.

“Notwithstanding the hugely challenging budgetary situation, this is a significant development for our local community and I want to recognise that Ms Coulter and her senior team have listened to the voices of those who believe the Downe Hospital can do more,” said Mr Hazzard.

“Following this reply I have written to the Health Minister Robin Swann to begin making the case for providing the South Eastern Trust with the resources necessary in the upcoming budget process to help bring these proposals to fruition.” 

Last month, startling new figures obtained by health campaigners revealed the Ulster Hospital has the longest turnaround time for ambulances in the province.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Down Community Health Committee for the time it takes from when an ambulance arrives at hospital with a patient to when it leaves and is clear to respond to emergency calls, focused on November last year.

The figures revealed the longest hand over time for one patient was 16 hours at the Ulster, with the average turnaround time for ambulances taking patients — many of them from Down District — to the hospital in Dundonald two hours, 27 minutes and 13 seconds.

The Ulster has the longest average turnaround time or any of the country’s 11 hospitals, with the second longest recorded at Craigavon Area where the time was one hour, 30 minutes and six seconds.

Campaigners made a specific request for turnaround times for last November in the wake of reports of issues arising at hospitals, including the delays due to ambulances being caught up, patient handovers and other difficulties.

The Ambulance Service has admitted the service is under considerable pressure due primarily to the challenges faced across the health and social care system resulting in an extended periods of patient handover for its crews at emergency departments across the region.