Altnagelvin Hospital
The call comes after reports of people being left with no other option but to queue outside in bad weather conditions before being seen.
The Foyle MLA commented: “I have highlighted in the past that Altnagelvin’s Emergency Department room is not fit for purpose.
“I recognise the Western Trust do have plans to redesign and extend this space but in the here and now, when we have all been warned of a 2nd wave of the virus, measures really should have been put in place to manage inevitable capacity problems.
“We knew the pressure that our health service would be under, we knew the likelihood that in the event of a subsequent wave that our A&E department would be rammed.
“We only have to look at recent weeks, with Trusts issuing public messages urging people not to attend A&E unless absolutely necessary.
“As such I cannot fathom, how a makeshift shelter is only being built now. How are people expected to stand out in the cold and pouring rain in the interim.
“The Emergency Department can be problematic at the best of times but this throws up a whole new set of challenges.
“I wonder will there be any supervision and if any thought has been given to the fact that this will actually deter people, especially older and infirm people, from going to hospital when they need to.
“I imagine part of problem is lack of staff and the inability to get people through quick enough.
“And I want to express solidarity with staff, I fully appreciate how stressful and difficult a time this is for them.
“But this total lack of foresight from the Trust is completely unacceptable and only serves to make things even tougher for their staff.
“The health service is an interdependent entity and there is a clear need to look across all aspects of the service, from community pharmacy, General Practice to social care, to determine how this pressure can be relieved.
“While I understand the pressure that Covid has out our services under, that lack of planning and preparation to prevent problems like this arising in the first place, actually undermines and jeopardises the importance of the overall Covid message.”
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