Antrim Area Hospital has said that it has "warned for some time" that it could be forced to close its emergency department due to safety reasons after it declared a major incident on Saturday.
On Saturday night, the hospital issued a statement asking people to "not attend under any circumstances" after it had reached full capacity due to the number of patients that were needing to be admitted.
It has said that there were a disproportionate number of critically ill patients at the emergency department, with some of these arriving in quick succession and a clinical decision was made by a senior consultant that the department could no longer operate safely or respond to any further ill patients who may arrive.
Read more: Antrim Area Hospital Emergency Department "under extreme pressure" after reaching full capacity
The Northern Trust has said that the decision to close the emergency department was regrettable but it was the only safe response under the circumstances.
It has also issued a plea to family members of those currently admitted to the hospital and are ready to be discharged to assist them so they are able to free up further bed space.
A Northern Trust spokesperson said: "We have warned for some time that it was inevitable that one or more hospitals could be forced into a situation where they had to close their Emergency Department for safety reasons due to the number of people in the department with high numbers needing to be admitted.
"On Saturday night, Antrim Area Hospital had a disproportionately high number of critically ill patients, a number of whom arrived in quick succession. A clinical decision was made by the Senior Emergency Department Consultant that the department could no longer operate safely and could not respond appropriately to any further critically ill patients who might have arrived. As such a Major Incident was declared. Temporary closure of the ED allowed the situation to be managed and controlled in a safe manner. This was a regrettable position to be in, but in the circumstances it was the only safe and appropriate response. The Trust is continuing to work closely with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and other Trusts to coordinate an appropriate response given regional pressures.
“The Antrim site currently has a high number of very ill patients who require admission into the hospital and therefore our priority today has to be patient discharge. We would appeal for the full co-operation of patients, families and carers in assisting us with discharging loved ones who are ready to go home, to help free up much needed beds and reduce the overall pressure on our service.
“People should definitely attend the ED if their condition is urgent or life threatening. Patients will always be seen in order of clinical priority, therefore those who attend with conditions which are not urgent will endure a long wait to be seen.
“We thank the public and our staff for their patience and understanding in these difficult circumstances.”
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