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Inpatient bed numbers are to be reduced at Daisy Hill Hospital from late July according to a spokesperson from the Southern Trust. Newry.ie contacted the Trust as we had sight of a video that seemed to suggest that inpatient medicine won’t be able to be provided at Daisy Hill from 17 July.
We asked the Trust 'What does that mean to the current Medical Wards and Surgical wards - Will they close? ' and 'Will patients have to be moved to other hospitals or will they continue operating as normal in Daisy Hill?' In their reply received today the Trust stated that there will be a reduction of inpatient beds but didn't state where or how many.
The Trust statment explained that from late July they will have only one substantive medical consultant working at Daisy Hill Hospital and that this could "potentially impact on the number of student doctors we are allocated in August."
Initially the Trust aims to immediately stabilise staffing for the summer months in anticipation of a more permanent solution.
A Trust spokesperson said “We have worked with medical staff to develop a number of possible proposals to prevent and reduce inpatient medical admissions by developing more same day emergency care and enhancing community services.
“This will mean a reduction in the number of inpatient beds at the hospital in order to safely look after the number of patients who need medical care with our available workforce. It will also require significant development in community health and social care services, particularly in the Newry and Mourne area, to better ensure that people who don’t need to be in hospital can be appropriately supported at home.
“We continue to develop our proposed models as we receive feedback from both our own staff locally and regional health and social care colleagues who we are working with closely.
“This is a very difficult time for all of our staff but we are encouraged by their enthusiasm to modernise and improve services for patients."
They also explained that they have appointed a Chief Operating Officer to oversee these developments.
