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1 Mar
An elderly woman died on Monday evening after her condition deteriorated in an ambulance while she waited for around eight hours to be admitted to a Northern Ireland hospital.
The woman was treated by medical staff and paramedics in the ambulance outside the Ulster Hospital while she waited for a bed to become available.
She subsequently died in the Emergency Department.
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In a statement, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust said it was "very saddened that an elderly lady died in the Ulster Hospital’s Emergency Department yesterday evening".
"The patient’s condition deteriorated while she was being treated in an ambulance, where she was being cared for by both ambulance staff and medical staff from the hospital.
"The patient subsequently died in the emergency department."
"Our medical and nursing staff did everything possible to resuscitate the patient in the emergency department.
"The Emergency Department had been under extreme pressure all day, as it has been for many months.
"Sustained pressures are being experienced in all of the emergency departments across Northern Ireland, resulting in patients having to wait longer than we would like for admission to hospital.
"The South Eastern Trust has been in contact with the lady’s family. We would like express our deepest condolences to them.
"The Trust is carrying out a review."
SDLP health spokesperson Colin McGrath said the woman's death demonstrates the extreme pressures on the health service.
The South Down MLA said: “My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the elderly woman who died following an eight-hour wait in an ambulance outside the Ulster Hospital. My thoughts are also with the paramedics and medical staff who did all they could to help this woman in the most difficult circumstances imaginable.
“Our staff go above and beyond every day and are being put through serious trauma due to the state our health service is currently in.”
Mr McGrath added: “This woman’s death after an eight-hour wait to be admitted to hospital shows just how bad things have become. We are no longer able to provide the bare minimum standards of care expected and it is having a serious impact on both patients and staff.
“This death in such tragic circumstances is another reminder of the need to put politics to one side and focus on ways that we can address the crisis in our health service and improve people’s lives on a daily basis. Nobody’s life should end in these circumstances, we must do everything in our power to ensure that this never happens again.”
Last month, the Ulster Hospital said its Emergency Department was experiencing an increase in the number of patients being admitted with Covid-19.
The Trust has also issued a number of urgent appeals recently for nursing staff to help in its Emergency Departments in the Ulster and Lagan Valley Hospitals and also in medical wards in either hospital.
On Tuesday morning there were 473 Covid-19 patients in hospital, five of whom were in intensive care, the Department of Health said.
Overall hospital capacity is at 107% while there are 206 beds occupied over the capacity.
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