Complex surgeries at two hospitals in the Northern Trust are to finish, the Northern Ireland minister announced today.
Mid-Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals will close for cases involving an overnight stay and patients will be transferred elsewhere, Michael McGimpsey confirmed. The changes take place in November.
The Trust has to make 3 per cent efficiency savings also involving day care, learning disability and mental health services.
Mr McGimpsey said he had been told by the Trust that changes must happen to ensure they can provide high quality and safe services to patients.
“The Trust and the Health and Social Care Board considered the profile of surgical services and have concluded that it is simply not possible to sustain high quality inpatient surgical services at Mid Ulster or Whiteabbey Hospitals,” he said.
“I want to reassure individuals who have their surgery on a day case basis that more will be able to avail of services at the Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals.
“However, for complex surgery, which requires an overnight stay in hospital, patients will, in the future, have their operation at Antrim or Causeway or other hospitals where they will have access to specialist services such as intensive care if they need it.”
Local services will continue to be developed at both Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospitals including the completion of a £300,000 refurbishment of a 40-bed unit at the Mid-Ulster and the introduction of a CT scanner at Whiteabbey.
Medical and A&E services are not changing at this time and arrangements are in place for these services to be fully supported with rapid access to anaesthetic cover at all times.
He also said an extra £500,000 a year will be made available to improve ambulance services in the Northern Trust area.
Earlier this year the minister rejected trust proposals to close residential care homes in Newtownabbey, Larne and Antrim.
PA