New Coronavirus assessment centre to open today at Altnagelvin Hospital
Suspected cases will be assessed by GPs at the out-of-hours Western Urgent Care building at Altnagelvin Hospital.
The most seriously ill patients will then be transferred to specialist wards.
Dr Tom Black from the British Medical Association (BMA) said it was hoped 13 of the centres would be operating within a week.
They are not test centres and are not for walk-ins.
The centres allow assessments for Coronavirus to be moved away from normal GP practices to help manage the large numbers of people who are expected to get the virus.
They will also allow GP practices to stay open for triage and non-Coronavirus consultations and it is hoped it will stop too many GPs and their staff becoming infected at the same time.
Dr Black said GPs would be drafted in from their own practices to treat Coronavirus patients with the appropriate care.
He described the new centre as the “middle ground” for the moderate to severe cases that need assessed.
“We need to make sure the only ones that get into hospital are the ones that need to go to hospital,” he said.
He told BBC Radio Foyle the centres were not walk-in services and people will not be tested for Coronavirus at them.
“You phone your GP as usual, your GP will talk to you advise you whether to go there or not.
“Some will be advised to stay home and others will be so severe they will be sent to Altnagelvin by ambulance,” he explained.
Dr Black said the centre would categorise the most at-risk patients and determine where best to place them, as resources will soon be limited.
“We are going to run out of hospital beds, intensive care units and ventilators very quickly,” he said.
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