Debate contribution: ‘The State of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland’ Report
Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on .
- MLA
- Mr Mike Nesbitt
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 5 May 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- ‘The State of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland’ Report
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5524609
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Royal College of Emergency Medicine for its report entitled 'The State of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland'. It reinforces our understanding of what needs to be done to address the pressures in our emergency departments. As is highlighted in the report, despite challenges with improving individual causality, there is clear evidence that extended delays in EDs increase overall clinical risk. My Department continues to act to improve hospital flow and reduce congestion in EDs. We have urgent care centres, minor injury units and phone-first services that are fully operational across the region and help to appropriately divert demand away from EDs. The continuing expansion of Hospital at Home and same-day emergency care services, alongside additional support for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) and the strengthening of consultant capacity in EDs, will also help to deliver further improvements. NIAS introduced Release to Rescue on 27 April, with the aim of ensuring that no patient waits for longer than two hours in an ambulance outside an ED. My officials continue to work with the Ambulance Service and the trusts as Release to Rescue is implemented. Ultimately, improving the outcomes and experiences of emergency departments is about whole-system flow and the timely, appropriate discharge of patients who no longer need hospital care, thus freeing up inpatient beds for those who need them the most. There is no quick or easy fix; achieving the improvements required involves a complex interplay of services in and across the wider HSC system and an investment in hospital and community capacity, which is dependent on funding being made available to me.
267 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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