Sinn Féin South Antrim MLA, Declan Kearney has commended the resilience and commitment of staff at all levels following a visit to Antrim Area Hospital.

Declan Kearney said:

“I met doctors, nurses, and other NHS staff, in Antrim Area Hospital including workers on the frontline in the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department, Direct Assessment Unit, and also the HEWS coordination hub.

“They talked to me about the extreme physical and emotional stress with which they struggle daily.  Antrim Area Hospital is a critical health care site in the Northern Trust, but it is massively under resourced.

“Senior staff told me that the hospital urgently needs forty-eight new beds. This lack of beds is having a knock-on effect and placing relentless strain upon all other services in the hospital.

“Despite historic under funding and challenges arising from the pandemic, frontline staff are maintaining superhuman efforts to deliver effective emergency and elective care treatment at the hospital.

“The challenges facing health and social care workers locally at Antrim Area Hospital, and across all Trust areas, underlines the imperative of our power sharing Executive being re-established. So, the DUP should do the right thing and end its boycott of the Assembly, the Executive and North South bodies.

“We need a functioning Executive to invest an extra one billion pounds into our health service; to recruit more nurses and doctors, tackle waiting lists, and to start delivering real transformations in our healthcare system. This additional funding for health and social care is contained within the three-year budget which is now being blocked. Antrim Area Hospital services and other regions would benefit from release of this new investment.

“I was deeply impressed by the dedication of the staff during my visit to Antrim Area Hospital. I want to acknowledge and commend their resilience, commitment and professionalism in providing the best possible care and outcomes for all patients, despite the challenges they face each day.”