The situation facing the health service in Northern Ireland is “dire and diabolical”, the First Minister has warned.
Michelle O’Neill expressed concern at the scenes witnessed both inside and outside emergency departments in recent weeks, with patients facing long waits in the back of ambulances due to capacity issues.
Ms O’Neill also acknowledged the problems around the shortage of social care packages, resulting in lengthy delays discharging people who are otherwise fit to leave hospital.
The First Minister made clear the issues cannot be resolved by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt alone, as she called for an Executive-wide approach to stabilising the health system.
“Our health situation is dire and it is diabolical, particularly for those people that have been in hospital EDs for over 24 hours, 36 hours, even longer for some people,” she told reporters at Stormont.
“It’s dire for the healthcare staff as well, which is why we tried to…
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