A RADICAL overhaul of the North’s health service could see the number of acute hospitals reduced from 10 to five over the next five years.
One of the most threatened hospitals is Daisy Hill, Newry, Co Down. Minister for Health Edwin Poots, of the DUP, held out the possibility that were the Department of Health in the South to take on some of the financial burden of running the hospital, it could be kept open.
While the proposals are likely to cause great controversy and opposition, Mr Poots said he was “very committed to a reform agenda.
“I believe that this is the most important statement that I have made – or am likely to make – to this house in respect of our health and social care system,” he said in the Assembly yesterday as he released a detailed review of health and social care.
Under the review, which was carried out by health administrator John Compton, the three main hospitals in Belfast – the Royal Victoria, the City and the Mater – would be categorised as one hospital, with accident and emergency located in the Royal alone, and services streamlined between the three sites.
Others of the 10 hospitals likely to maintain their acute status are Altnagelvin in Derry, Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, which is currently under reconstruction, the Ulster Hospital and the Antrim Area and Craigavon Area hospitals. The Causeway Hospital in Coleraine faces major downgrading, as does Daisy Hill in Newry.
However, Mr Poots indicated that if Daisy Hill was to “extend its services” to cover the population on both sides of the Border, taking in the high population of Dundalk, then, with funding from the Republic it could continue to function as an acute hospital.
“That may be something which is of interest to the authorities in the Irish Republic. Certainly I am having those conversations, and we will see the outcome of it,” he said.
“That is an option for Daisy Hill which may provide a long-term sustainable, resilient and serious solution to the local community’s needs.”
The Compton review also deals with other cross-Border sharing of services to ensure “the best possible services that were cost-effective”. Mr Poots and Mr Compton explained that this could, for example, involve Northern Ireland patients using specialist paediatric services in the South, and patients in the Republic, particularly along the Border, being treated for some cancers in Northern hospitals.
Among the other proposals are:
* Shift in focus from hospital care to care in the home and in the community.
* Reintroducing prescription fees – they are currently free for everyone.
* The 350-plus GP services forming 17 “federations”.
* Closure of all long-stay mental institutions and resettlement of patients by 2015.
* Focus on health promotion and illness prevention to reduce use of acute hospitals.
* A “major reduction” in number of old people’s residential homes, with older people remaining at home or in supported accommodation.
The review envisages major shifts in work patterns, with many of the 70,000 employees in the North’s health services transferring to other duties.
By 2015 the annual budget is due to increase from its current annual rate of £4.3 billion (€5.1 billion) to £4.6 billion. If the reform were not carried out the budget by 2015 would be £5.4 billion, according to the Minister.
