Departmental statement on ED stats

Emergency Departments (EDs) across Northern Ireland are continuing to experience serious pressures.

There were 204,170 attendances at EDs during the first three months of 2019 - a 6.2% increase on the same period in 2018. A 13% increase was recorded in attendances by people aged 95 years and older.

Clearly, too many patients are waiting too long in our EDs. We apologise to those patients.

Colleagues across the Health and Social Care (HSC) system are working very hard to deal with the growing ED pressures and to identify areas where improvements can be made.

As part of the HSCs transformation programme Delivering Together, the Department is moving forward with the review of urgent and emergency care. A health service summit on this review is planned for June and a public consultation on a proposed new model of care will be launched later in the year.

Key priorities in the review include establishing the best way to meet the needs of the rising number of older people in our population.

Notes to editors: 

1. Emergency Care Waiting Times statistics can be accessed at https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/emergency-care-waiting-times

2. For media enquiries please contact the Department of Health Press Office team on 028 9052 0575 or by email. For out of hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110. Follow us on twitter @healthdpt

Share this page