Coronavirus: Hospital’s A&E department to close to avoid ‘collapsing’ under Covid-19 pandemic

An Emergency Department Nurse during a demonstration of a Coronavirus pod and COVID-19 virus testing procedures.

Interim director of acute hospitals, Melanie McClements said: “To ensure the safety of staff and patients, we have taken the essential decision to run one Emergency Department, which will be at Craigavon Area Hospital. This means a temporary closure of Daisy Hill’s Emergency Department, effective from 2pm on Saturday March 28th, 2020.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but these are exceptional circumstances. This move allows us to consolidate our emergency, intensive care and respiratory expertise all one site which will give us a much more robust service in the weeks ahead.

“If we don’t work to make these changes now, we risk services on both sites collapsing as we expect staffing levels to be impacted in weeks to come.”

Other services will continue. Some planned surgical work will be moving from Craigavon to Daisy Hill.

Maternity services will be continuing on both sites, although some routine/low risk patients may have their care transferred to Daisy Hill. Patients affected by these changes will be contacted directly.

The move will leave people in south down and south Armagh much further away from the next nearest emergency department in Craigavon.

South Down DUP MLA Jim Well was deeply concerned.

“The people of Newry and Mourne will fear that once this crucial service leaves Daisy Hill, it will never return,” he said. “Similar ‘temporary’ arrangements were implemented at Belfast City and Lagan Valley Hospitals eight years ago and there has never been the slightest suggestion that A & E will ever return to either site.

“Normally such a major reduction in the service available at a hospital would be the subject of a lengthy public consultation, but the Southern Trust is aware that the sweeping powers given to Government to deal with the Coronavirus means that this does not need to happen in this case. The Trust also knows that public meetings and rallies to protest against the decision cannot be held in the present crisis.

“The people of Newry and Mourne will be incensed that this major service is being removed from their local hospital at a time when everyone’s attention is focused on the crisis that is gripping the entire community.”

The Trust gave assurances that the closure is a temporary measure to deal specifically with Covid-19 and it will re-open once the immediate situation improves.