Reopening of Daisy Hill Hospital Emergency Department delayed | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Reopening of Daisy Hill Hospital Emergency Department delayed

The reopening of Daisy Hill Hospital’s Emergency Department has been postponed until mid-October.

 

daisy hill hospital emergency department ED - Newry news

 

In March, the Department temporarily closed and staff transferred to Craigavon to run a second (Non Respiratory) Emergency Department.

 

 

That move was part of the Southern Trust response to COVID-19.

Over recent weeks, Trust staff have been working closely with the Daisy Hill Pathfinder Group and had planned to reopen the Department on a 24/7 basis by the end of September.

Explaining the delay Melanie McClements, Interim Director of Acute Services for the Trust said, “We know that it is hugely disappointing for our staff and local people that we have to postpone the reopening of the ED.

“However is absolutely vital that we do everything we can to make sure the hospital is as safe as possible before we reopen.

“Our estate’s team are working hard to make more space in the ED so that we can comply with social distancing requirements.

 

 

“We are creating a bigger waiting area and separate areas inside for paediatrics and to separate respiratory and non-respiratory patients,” she explained.

“We also need time to open more medical beds throughout the hospital for patients admitted from ED, as the risk of COVID means we can no longer accommodate additional medical patients in our surgical ward, as we previously did. 

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“There are also new ventilation requirements being installed in the High Dependency Unit so that we can treat patients who may be admitted from ED with COVID and our surgical team are working to ensure they can sustain their increased planned work while responding to emergency patients.

“This has been a very complex and challenging process and we hope to reassure local people by putting these additional measures in place.

She added, “We remain committed to reopening the Department as soon as we feel we can safely treat those patients who attend.”

 

 

The Trust now plans to reopen the ED on Monday 19 October and will confirm details in the weeks beforehand.

 

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Posted by on Sep 11 2020. Filed under Community, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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