31.10.14
Budget cuts cause ward and injury unit closures in Northern Ireland
Major budget cuts have forced health chiefs in Northern Ireland to close wards and shrink bed numbers this winter.
Unions and politicians have reacted angrily to the proposed austerity plans, saying they put patients at risk and staff under “unmanageable pressures”.
The Northern Ireland Executive allocated only £80m to the Department of Health for the current financial year, when it had been hoping for an allocation of £160m.
Health minister Jim Wells said £170m of savings were required for the year 2014-15, which has led to the trusts having to implement the cuts.
The closure of hospital beds will affect mainly the elderly or those who are in transition between hospital and home. Minor injury units are to close in Armagh, Whiteabbey, County Antrim and Bangor, County Down, while fewer temporary staff are to be used.
Implementation of the closures could start within weeks – though health officials insist they will only be temporary.
The Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) say that staff in units that are closing will be redeployed to work in emergency departments and other services.
Valerie Watts, chief executive of the HSCB, said: “The trusts were asked to prepare a range of contingency proposals aimed at addressing this difficult financial position, minimising as far as possible any potential negative impact on patient and client care, and at all times putting the safety of patients and clients as our first priority.”
Unions have expressed concerns over the scale and impact of the proposals. Lead officer of Unite, Kevin McAdam, said the union would continue its work-to-rule action and bring forward plans for further stoppages across the NHS in Northern Ireland.
Unison's Patricia McKeown said it was prepared to take industrial action over the budget cuts and hit out at the current health chiefs as "not fit to be in charge".
"As a last act, the previous health minister refused to sign off the health budget on the grounds that it would put patients at risk. He was sacked and patients are now at risk," she said.
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