Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy has said current pressures being felt in Altnagelvin Emergency Department further demonstrates the need for an Executive to be formed urgently.

Speaking after reports that over 40 patients were waiting on a bed after presenting at Altnagelvin Emergency Department Delargy said:

“The situation at Altnagelvin hospital is a real worry. 

“The public deserve access to first-class healthcare yet as we speak dozens of people are having to wait to access care.

“Our healthcare system is at breaking point and our health staff have worked themselves into the ground trying to maintain frontline services.

“Unfortunately, the staff alone cannot fix this crisis.

“We need a functioning Executive so that the additional £1 billion over three years for health proposed in Finance Minister Conor Murphy’s draft budget to tackle waiting lists and recruit more doctors and nurses can be put to work.

“I once again call on the DUP to lift their cruel boycott of the Political institutions and get back round the Executive table to work with others to support workers and families suffering from the cost of living crisis and fix the health service.”