Accident and emergency services in the North Eastern Health Board area are in crisis, according to the board's chief executive, and an extra 300 acute beds are needed across its five hospitals.
Mr Paul Robinson said yesterday it had approached the Department of Health three years ago for these beds. However it was only this year the board was allowed to seek architects and design teams to provide the new facilities, he added.
Recently the board had received some increases in medical specialties available in the region, but "by and large there had been no worthwhile increase in beds", he said.
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