‘Tackle real problem’: chair

In a document ‘Delivering Financial Balance – Securing Safe Services’ dated October 2014, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust reveal that they hope to save £555,000 through the temporary closure of Dalriada Hospital, but go on to say that this saving will only be achieved through the redeployment of Dalriada staff to bolster the substantive staff and reduce the spend on Agency staff at the Causeway Acute Hospital.

Councillor Cunningham continued: “Dalriada hospital is the ideal template for the ‘Transforming Your Care’ objective of intermediate care provision, with bed occupancy of over 92% Dalriada Hospital provides support for rehabilitation and reablement for patients after an operation or illness.”

“Dalriada and its services should not be the victim of a staff recruitment crisis at the Causeway acute Hospital, I am calling on the Health minister to overturn the decision to temporarily close Dalriada Hospital and to put the Northern Trust officials to work on the source of the problem which is the overuse of Agency staff at the Causeway acute hospital.”