Casualty unit remains open, Trust confirms

THERE have been no changes to the opening hours at Whiteabbey Hospital's Accident and Emergency department, the Northern Health Trust has confirmed.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Jan 2010, 10:22 BST
Updated 5th Jan 2010, 15:34 BST

Concerns were raised last week that the casualty unit had been closed down after a media report quoted a mid-Ulster GP saying that the Trust “...have shut casualty in the Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey (hospitals).”

However, speaking to the Times this week, a senior Trust spokesman assured people that the A&E department at Whiteabbey remains open as normal - Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

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The media report also claimed that medical staff at Antrim Area Hospital are at breaking point because of a lack of resources - a suggestion the Trust denies.

“Obviously the A&E department is under pressure dealing with more fractures, chest infections and the other winter pressures, but that could be applied to any hospital in the country,” the spokesman added.

The Northern Health Trust revealed in October last year that the Accident and Emergency department at Whiteabbey Hospital could close within 18 months as more acute services are centralised at Antrim Area Hospital as part of its ‘modernisation reforms’.