Ambulance handover times ‘improving’ within Northern Health and Social Care Trust
Ambulance handover times have seen “some improvement” in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, board members have been told.
Presenting a performance report for May at a meeting in Antrim Hospital last week, Neill Martin, divisional director of strategic planning, performance and ICT, also stated that 11.8 per cent of patients were handed over to medical staff within 15 minutes following arrival by ambulance at Antrim Hospital and 8.6 per cent at Causeway Hospital, Coleraine.
The meeting heard 85 per cent of patients were handed over to staff at Antrim Hospital within 60 minutes and 83 per cent at Causeway Hospital; during the month.
However, 35 per cent required more than two hours to be transferred at Antrim Hospital and 16 per cent at Causeway Hospital.
Meanwhile, the ambulance patient handover monthly average time in the Northern Trust has halved.
The average handover time during May was 37 minutes at Antrim Hospital and 39 minutes at Causeway.
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust reported an average ambulance “turnaround” time at Antrim Hospital of 74 minutes during April and 82 minutes at Causeway Hospital.
The same month, 250 patient arrivals by ambulance required more than two hours to be transferred to the care of Antrim Hospital and 100 at Causeway.
During April, 70 per cent of hand-overs occurred within 60 minutes at Antrim Hospital and 60 per cent at Causeway Hospital.
At Antrim that month, 7.9 per cent took place within 15 minutes and 5.9 per cent within 15 minutes at Causeway Hospital.
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Trust interim chief executive Suzanne Pullins told the May Trust board meeting there has “undoubtedly” been an improvement.
“Ambulance turnaround times have been an area of focus for a very long time, she stated.
A report on “ambulance hand-overs” in Northern Ireland in March 2025 by the Northern Ireland Audit Office states that “timely ambulance hand-overs require appropriate capacity and resources throughout the hospital, including in EDs and adequate care capacity within the community to enable timely patient discharges”.
Audrey Harris, director of medicine and emergency medicine, told the Trust board meeting: “We are still meeting NIAS (Northern Ireland Ambulance Service) improvements. In the last two weeks, we were the highest performing region.
“It is also important to note that within the Northern Trust, NIAS handles the highest number of calls.”