Debate contribution: Altnagelvin Hospital: Access to Accident and Emergency

Debate contribution by Miss Nuala McAllister on 21 January 2025.

MLA

Miss Nuala McAllister

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

21 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Altnagelvin Hospital: Access to Accident and Emergency

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4750000

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member who proposed the topic for the Adjournment debate. I appreciate that, usually, Adjournment debates are very much constituency-based, but, as health spokesperson for the party, I will say that, regardless of the constituency that you are based in, it is important that you advocate, raise awareness and highlight issues across Northern Ireland. It is my understanding — the Minister will correct me, if I am wrong — that Altnagelvin's A&E department has the oldest physical structures of any such department in Northern Ireland. On my last visit to Altnagelvin A&E, which was in a personal capacity, I was reminded of the structures that previously existed in the Royal Victoria Hospital. The state-of-the-art facility that is there now stands in stark contrast to what we have at Altnagelvin. That provides hope that we can do better and have better facilities. However, we also need to learn from what is going on at the new maternity hospital that is being built in Belfast and ensure that, when the Western Trust completes the development of Altnagelvin, all those stumbling blocks are not there in the first place. There are lessons to be learned from that. Like many Members who sit on Committees, we in our party are contacted by constituents from across Northern Ireland. Some of the contact that I have had about Altnagelvin in particular has been about some of the issues that have been raised. I recall a mother who contacted me. She had left her young child in order to bring her mother to A&E. Her mother was elderly and frail but perhaps not as frail as those who were waiting in ambulances. One issue that she raised about the time that she was waiting with her mother was that older people — they are more susceptible to confusion, may not know where they are if they are sick with infection and may need help with their basic needs — may not be able to be assisted in the physical structures at Altnagelvin due to its washing and toilet facilities. In Committee, the Minister confirmed that. He said that, when he visited the department, he came across a patient who had been there for days and did not have access to those facilities. We hear it not just from constituents but from the Department and the Minister. I recognise that there is a commitment for a new build. However, short-term measures are needed. When we debated the motion on ambulance waiting times last week, I reached out and spoke to colleagues in emergency medicine and the Ambulance Service. I understand that they presented short-term measures that could be implemented because of the winter pressures and then stepped down. Maybe the Minister could relate to us any such measures that could be taken to make physical changes at Altnagelvin. I will move from short-term measures to transformation. My party advocates transformation, and I have no shame in saying that. Across Northern Ireland, we have seen the consequences of doing it piecemeal. Piecemeal transformation or transformation by service collapse results in pressures elsewhere: it is about just shifting it from one place to another. That is why, when it comes to true transformation, we need to do it on the basis of looking at the whole approach: what impact will closing one area have on another area? I would like to hear from the Minister about the opening of the minor injuries unit. Has there been a review of that? What has been the benefit? What analysis has been done to make it better? I also want to encourage a holistic approach to transformation. We need to ensure that people outside Belfast, particularly in rural areas or areas that are harder to reach, are not left behind. It is really important to ensure that all our hospitals are on a community transport network. I am encouraged by hearing from Members today about the new business case that is being put forward by the Western Trust. I am perhaps not encouraged by not knowing that we will not come under the same pressures or face the same issues as the Belfast Trust. Perhaps the Minister could commit today to keep on top of that as we move forward over the next five years; hopefully, it will not be longer than five years.

723 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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