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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Health
Connor Lynch

Antrim Area Hospital Emergency Department "under extreme pressure" after reaching full capacity

Antrim Area Hospital's Emergency Department was forced to tell people to "not attend under any circumstances" after reaching "full capacity" on Saturday.

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust issued a statement on Saturday saying that the emergency department at the hospital was under extreme pressure and that people should only attend if their condition is life threatening.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the Trust issued another statement saying that people should not attend the hospital under any circumstance as it had reached full capacity.

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It said: "Antrim Area Hospital Emergency Department has reached full capacity. Please do not attend in any circumstances.

"Our greatest priority, as always, continues to be patient safety and we are continuously evaluating the situation on an ongoing basis."

At 8am on Sunday morning, the hospital continued to be under "extreme pressure" with the Trust saying: "Please do not attend the ED unless your condition is urgent or life threatening.

"Patients will be seen in order of clinical priority. If your condition is not urgent you will endure a long wait to be seen.

"Please understand that staff are working extremely hard in difficult circumstances.

"Thank you for your patience."

East Antrim Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said that the health service is "cracking" after being under a lot of pressure for a long time.

He said: "This was the situation at Antrim Area Hospital A&E overnight. People told not to attend ‘under any circumstances’.

"The health service has been under intense pressure for a long time and it is now cracking. Urgent action is needed now to try to prevent this happening again."

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