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Patients requiring acute stroke care at Daisy Hill Hospital will continue to be diverted to Craigavon Hospital till the end of March.
The Southern Trust announced 14 February that due to temporary staffing issues they had put in place a short term arrangement meaning that patients requiring acute stroke care and treatment would be taken to Craigavon Area Hospital by ambulance for initial treatment. At the time they said it was expected this would be in place for just two weeks!
In a statement to Newry.ie a Trust representative said that they have appointed a temporary Consultant but that they haven't been able to take up the post.
The Southern Trust spokesperson said "We are pleased to have appointed a temporary Consultant to help us resume this service. As they unfortunately were not able to take up post as initially anticipated, the divert has been extended to the end of March when the new doctor plans to join the Daisy Hill stroke team."
The Trust explain that they have contingency arrangements in place should a patient arrive at Daisy Hill ED and is thought to have stroke symptoms and that their priority is to ensure that patients continue to access safe, high quality care and treatment from our specialist stroke staff at all times.
Until the end of March those who need specialist acute treatment will be transferred to Craigavon or the Royal Victoria hospitals and once stable will be transferred back to the stroke unit at Daisy Hill should ongoing care be required.
The advice is to always phone 999 with suspected stroke symptoms, which can be seen below.
FAST CAMPAIGN:
Face, Arm, Speech, and Time to call 999.
Face – Has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?
Arms – Can they raise both arms and keep them there?
Speech – Is their speech slurred?
Time – Time to call 999 if you see any single one of these signs
