Serious clinical incidents rise at Antrim Hospital by a 'shocking' 350% in four years
A STEADY and shocking rise in Serious Clinical Incidents at Antrim Area Hospital was raised during a grilling of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust by Magherafelt and Cookstown Council members last Wednesday evening.
It was revealed that Serious Clinical Incidents or 'Near Misses' as staff call them, have dramatically risen from just 2 in 2005/2006, 5 in 2006/2007, 9 in 2007/2008 and 9 in 2008/2009.
Save The Mid's Teresa McKenna said: "This rise would appear to coincide with the removal of services such as Maternity, Obstetrics and Paediatrics from Mid Ulster in 2006/2007 along with the reduction of A&E hours in Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey.
“The Trust has failed to meet it's safety measures to implement the Dellotte Risk Assessment to add 224 beds and extend the Antrim A&E as the Antrim was originally designed as a 600 bed hospital but only phase one (400 Beds) has ever been completed.
“The closure of hospitals like The Braid, Massereene and Waveney and the removal of acute services from Whiteabbey and Mid Ulster have forced pressure on a hospital and staff that are just not equipped to deal with the demand.
"During the meeting Dr Olivia Dornan said she welcomed staff bringing these incidents to light but was not unduly concerned by the dramatic rise stating that it wasn't a huge number in relation to other hospital's of a similar size. When Kate Lagan cross referenced other hospital's she confirmed they had only one or two cases and in some instances none.
"What angered me most about Dr Dornan's response was that she was more interested in defending her role within this clearly struggling hospital than to appreciate that these are not just number's.
“In just four years 25 people almost lost their lives in Antrim Area Hospital as the result of a near miss. These incidents are people, they could be children, Father's or Mother's with dependant families or someone grand parents? It's not good enough to merely look at them as just numbers while missing the seriousness of the potential loss of life."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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