Shocking Fall in Hospital Beds On DUP Watch

Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:

“As several A & E departments struggle with overload, a key component of the problem is that the absence of admission beds is causing logjam in A & Es. This is something which the Minister seeks to dodge, but it is a policy which he has carried on and continues to implement. You can’t cull hundreds of hospital beds and then be surprised when A & Es are choked with trolley waits. Take Belfast Trust: in just 5 years the number of available beds have been slashed by nearly 20% from 2700 to 2200.

“Across Northern Ireland the number of hospital beds has fallen by over 16% since 2009.

“In the Northern Trust the fall is almost 19% while in the Southern it is over 20%.

“The Health Minister is skilled in passing the buck on these issues but figures do not lie. He has presided over a department which has cut the most basic of medical facilities from our hospitals.

“The Executive has failed to deliver in what most people would regard as one of their top priorities – maintaining the health service.”

Note to editors

The figures obtained by Mr Allister are as follows:

Belfast – 2,763.4    2,272.4 – down  491 – 17.77%

South Eastern – 1,054.7  956.5 – down 98.2 – 9.31%

Northern – 1,278.6  1,035.7 – down 242.9 – 18.99%

Southern – 1,169.4  928.1 – down 241.3 – 20.63%

Western – 1,107.5 981.4 – down 126.1 – 11.39%

Total – 7,373.6  6,174.1 – down 1,199.5 – 16.27%