PLANNED operations at two Belfast hospitals were suspended last night as frontline staff prepare for a spike in Covid admissions - and the re-opening of the 'Nightingale' facility.
The Irish News has learned that elective surgeries at Belfast City and Musgrave Park hospitals were postponed from 5pm yesterday.
Sources say an increase in seriously ill patients requiring Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds at the Mater Hospital in north Belfast - where coronavirus patients are currently treated - led to health service management making the decision to greenlight the Nightingale, which will accommodate patients in Belfast initially.
Breaking: Belfast trust memo to staff confirms they need to open up ICU beds in Nightingale facility due to no of Covid patients on ventilators at Mater hospital. Mater can care for 11, they currently have 10
— Seanín Graham (@SeaninGraham22) October 13, 2020
- Trust says that some planned operations will be postponed this wk
The dedicated facility is based at Belfast City Hospital and was stood down in May as Covid cases and those requiring ICU admission dramatically reduced. However, it was always on standby in preparation for a second wave.
Consultants based at the City and Musgrave sites were informed of the developments yesterday, with many expressing alarm about the impact on patients who already had operations "paused" during the first surge back in March.
It is understood the decision will be reviewed at the end of this week.
Musgrave operates as the north's regional hospital for orthopaedic procedures, including hip and knee replacements, and had extensive waiting lists even before the pandemic hit.
Surgeons at the City Hospital are employed across a range of specialties including cancer, gynaecology and colorectal services.
It is also understood that the Eye Clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) service has been affected as staff are redeployed.
A spokesman for the Belfast trust would not comment on the sites affected but confirmed that procedures were postponed due to ICU pressures.
He added: "As we respond to the increase in admissions with Covid-19, we may need to postpone some planned surgeries and outpatients appointments in the coming days and weeks.
"This is to ensure staff are freed up and trained to support our specialist teams and as intensive care needs expand. A small number of surgeries have been postponed in the last few days."
It comes as Stormont leaders are due to meet today to discuss further Covid restrictions, including the possibility of a full lockdown.
Figures released by the Department of Health yesterday showed a further three deaths linked to coronavirus, while 877 new cases were recorded.
A total of 140 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 22 in intensive care.
The death toll from the pandemic now stands at 591, according to department data which mainly relates to hospital fatalities.
It emerged yesterday the north's most senior medic, Dr Michael McBride, had urged Stormont ministers to take "urgent and decisive" action to curb spiralling infection rates.
In a leak to the BBC's Nolan Show, chief medical officer Dr McBride and chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young recommended the introduction of a Northern Ireland-wide lockdown lasting for between four to six weeks.
It is understood the officials urged school closures for a period within the lockdown, likely to be around three to four weeks.
They have said action needs to be taken within days and identified a six-week lockdown as providing the best chance of the north reaching Christmas without the need for another one.
Health minister Robin Swann confirmed that a paper outlining the officials' advice had been presented to First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill on Sunday evening, but he declined to elaborate on the details.
"That paper recommends decisive action be urgently taken to save lives, prevent the health service being overwhelmed and protect non-Covid services to the greatest extent possible," Mr Swann told the assembly.
Divisions between health officials and politicians emerged yesterday, with Mrs Foster maintaining her position that another lockdown was "not inevitable".
The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson also questioned the need for a Northern Ireland-wide lockdown, given variations in infection rates across different areas.
