Tag Archives: population demographics

02.04.20
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Newry & Mourne Local Government District (LGD) has consistently been ranked within the Top 4 LGDs by population size consistently since 1971.

Newry & Mourne Local Government District (LGD) has consistently ranked in the Top 4 populations by population size of LGDS in all N. Ireland consistently since 1971 – So where’s the Funding for Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry?

Now is finally the time for proper investment for Daisy Hill, as Newry & Mourne LGD has a population bigger than Antrim LGD, Castlereagh LGD, and also Craigavon LGD, who all have MAJOR ACUTE HOSPITALS ALREADY.

Time for Investment for Newry and Mourne LGD and Daisy Hill Hospital , Newry.

Now is finally the time for proper investment for Daisy Hill, as Newry & Mourne LGD has a population bigger than Antrim LGD, Castlereagh LGD, and also Craigavon LGD, who all have MAJOR ACUTE HOSPITALS ALREADY.

10 Acute hospitals and Table of 15 largest populations in NI (2019), hospital map Northern Ireland

The picture shows the Present configuration of 10 Acute hospitals (red dots) now left in NI in 2019, alongside a Table of the 15 largest population settlements here (Source 2018 NISRA*).

There has been a Hospital on the Daisy Hill Hospital site in Newry since the 19th century, for its growing Population.  In 2003 it was officially designated as one of ten out of 19 existing Acute hospitals, under ‘Developing Better Services’ needed for the acute care needs of the people of NI.

New investment in acute specialist hospital services, hospital beds and specialist medical staff is due in the Newry & Mourne area, in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, including in the Emergency Department.

But despite Newry & Mourne consistently having the largest LGD population in the operational area of the Southern Trust**, its funding for Acute services and Capital for Redevelopment as a MAJOR ACUTE HOSPITAL has never been equal to the other acute hospital in the Southern Trust, Craigavon.

The 19 acute hospitals in NI in 1995 were reduced to a total of ten after various Dept. of Health Reforms.  The LGD populations* or Settlements shown in the Graphic (source NISRA*) would suggest that Population size and need does not seem to drive current funding decisions.  Health investment in NI continues to focus on 4-6 Hospitals, instead of the ten designated acute hospitals on the map.

Only 6 URBAN hospitals (Royal, Belfast City, Craigavon, Antrim, Altnagelvin and the Ulster) continue to be allocated major funding.

These 6 hospitals, (from the previous 19) were given major investment as specialist acute hospitals, because of hospital size, NOT based on where the largest  LGD/settlements of population lived, [Regional Strategy for 1997 to 2002. – Detail available in previous article, link at the end of piece.]

>DAISY HILL ACUTE HOSPITAL, IN NEWRY & MOURNE LGD IS STILL BEING OVERLOOKED DESPITE BEING THE LARGEST LOCALITY OF ALL 5 LGDs IN SOUTHERN TRUST AREA & FOURTH LARGEST LGD IN N.IRELAND.

Just as in the Western Trust (with a total population of 301,448*) there is need for TWO Specialist Acute Stroke Units - so too, the Southern Trust (with a larger population of 380,312*) is also entitled to TWO Specialist Stroke Units (HASUs and Acute Stroke Units), at Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry and Craigavon Hospital. This would ensure that everyone in the Southern Trust has immediate access to CT scanning and life saving thrombolysis, followed by direct access into a stroke unit.

Daisy Hill acute Hospital, in Newry & Mourne LGD is still being overlooked for investment and specialist service provision, without explanation.  

Official NISRA demographic statistics prove that the population need exists in the area of Newry & Mourne (which includes South Armagh). This LGD has consistently been the FOURTH largest population in NI, as well as the highest locality population of all 5 localities/LGDs in the operational area** of the Southern Health Trust since its inception in 2007.

Investment in CT and MRI scanners essential for Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City, in the largest locality in the southern Trust area.
What progress have the Southern Trust recruitment team made to date recruiting for Daisy Hill Emergency department?

TIME NOW FOR PROPER INVESTMENT FOR NEWRY & MOURNE LOCALITY ACUTE HOSPITAL, DAISY HILL, INCLUDING INVESTMENT IN STROKE SERVICES, SCANNING EQUIPMENT AND HOSPITAL CAPITAL PRIORITIES

If Health Chiefs and those in charge of funding were to fully realise the actual size of the Newry & Mourne population, from valid NISRA statistics, then changes could be made to rectify the situation and put a stop to the wrong categorisation of Daisy Hill as a ‘smaller’ Hospital, when it should be a large Specialist Acute Hospital to truly reflect the population size and need in the area.

For example Even though the Executive Summary of the Bengoa Report*** P19 stated clearly to the NI Executive “IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE for this report to dictate to people in different parts of Northern Ireland what services they should and should not expect to be located in their area or local hospital” THEY DID EXACTLY THAT in THE FULL BENGOA EXPERT PANEL REPORT (P.73)

In this report all of Northern Ireland was inappropriately dictated to and told as a Local Case Study that Craigavon Area Hospital would be the site for a centralised Specialist Stroke Unit above all other locations in NI. Newry & Mourne’s population were also publicly inappropriately dictated to, that they would only get stroke rehabilitation in a community setting instead of retention of the existing Specialist Acute/Rehabilitation Stroke Unit in Daisy Hill acute Hospital.

Official statistics, as presented by NISRA must determine where Specialist acute Hospitals are located in NI.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE & PROPER INVESTMENT

The Newry & Mourne population was left out of plans for future investment for a NEW hospital, left out of the NI 2019 Reshaping Stroke Services Options and IGNORED when it came to funding and long term future investment for CT, MRI and non obstetric scanners but NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE.  

Time for Investment in Newry and Mourne LGD's acute Hospital Daisy Hill

>NOW is the time for proper investment (with Rebates) for Newry & Mourne and Daisy Hill Hospital as a Specialist Acute Hospital NOW,  just as had been intended under Government Backed Report in 2003 and Strategic Investment Report in 2005 which had Secretary of State backing.     

PLEASE SHARE WIDELY

Please Share widely – with your help this info could reach the right people with the power to make the necessary changes, such as the new Health Minister Mr Robin Swann MLA and new Finance Minister Mr Conor Murphy MLA.  Please keep supporting Daisy Hill Hospital for Life!

<       BACKGROUND INFORMATION                  >

Reference * NISRA is the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency ; https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

IMPORTANT INFO ON LGDs AND COUNCILS

Despite the fact that there are now 11 Councils in Northern Ireland in 2020, the (former) 26 council model is still relevant today for the purpose of Health Funding. 

NISRA continues to also provide populations by HSC Trusts aggregated from the former 26 local government districts. These 26 former LGDs remain named in legislation as the ‘operational areas’ of the Health and Social Care Trusts in NI according to the Establishment Orders 2006.

Reference ** The 5 LGDs named  in the’ OPERATIONAL AREA’ of the Southern Health and Social Services Trust (SHSCT) –  in order of population size since the start of the Southern Trust in 2007 were in 2018 : Newry & Mourne (105,693); Craigavon ( 101,489); Armagh (62,976); Dungannon (62,666), and Banbridge(50,717) NISRA 2018 * Note: Newry & Mourne is ONE single LGD.

<Important>:

There are 5 LGDs/localities in SHSCT – NOT 3 Localities or Local Government Districts.

They are as follows:

(1) Newry & Mourne: ONE LGD,

(2) Craigavon: one LGD

(3) Banbridge: one LGD ,

(4) Armagh one LGD,

and  (5) Dungannon :one LGD. 

THERE IS NO SUCH LGD/LOCALITY AS ‘ARMAGH/DUNGANNON’ or ‘CRAIGAVON/BANBRIDGE.’

Southern Trust/ SLCG Populations

1995 Southern Trust /Southern Local Commissioning Group SLCG Populations: Newry & Mourne (84,035); Craigavon (77,689); Armagh (52,675); Dungannon (46,958) and Banbridge(37,427) NISRA 1995.

2010 Southern Trust/ SLCG Populations:  Newry & Mourne (99,900); Craigavon (93,600); Armagh (59,400); Dungannon (57,700) and Banbridge  (48,000). NISRA MYE 2010  

2018 Southern Trust/ SLCG Populations: Newry & Mourne (105,693); Craigavon (101,489); Armagh (62,976); Dungannon (62,666) and Banbridge  (50,717) . NISRA 2018

Reference *** Bengoa Expert Panel Report ‘Systems not Structures’, 2016, https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/systems-not-structures-changing-health-and-social-care-full-report

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https://savedaisyhillhospital.com/2020/01/15/ni-health-crisis-cut-in-number-of-specialist-acute-hospitals-their-uneven-spread-since-1995-is-a-major-factor/

01.15.20
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NI Health Crisis – Cut in Specialist Acute Hospitals & their Uneven spread since 1995 is a major factor

Nurses and Health Workers in N. Ireland strike for pay parity, safe staffing levels Dec2019

2019 ended with Northern Ireland’s Health Care in crisis: Patient Waiting lists at record highs, healthcare workers on strike over pay and staffing levels, Nurses from the Royal College of Nursing on strike for the first time in its 103 year history. This ‘crisis’ is recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Nursing and Health Unions

NI Nurses and Health Workers province-wide strike January 2020

Health Care workers on strike here have been short changed in comparison with the rest of the UK, on pay and staffing levels. But in terms of Acute Hospital Care, are people in Northern Ireland being treated fairly in the number and location of specialist acute hospitals?

Before NI can start to fix the current Health Care Crisis –some background is necessary to find out how it got to this point.

There were 19 Acute hospitals in NI in 1995 as the map below, reproduced from The Department of Health’s Regional Strategy (1997 – 2002) shows.

Hospital map Northern Ireland with populations 1995 -shows acute hospitals.

According to the Department of Health:

“If the ratio of acute hospitals to population which currently obtains in England were applied to Northern Ireland (1,649,131 in 1995) there would be no more than 10 acute hospitals in NI. Thus many acute hospitals in NI serve much smaller populations than acute hospitals in England.”

Dept. of Health for Northern Ireland Regional Strategy (1997 – 2002)

Direct Rule Health Minister Mr Moss stated in a Hansard Report 5 March 1997:

“The Department’s Regional Strategy for 1997 to 2002 was published last year and envisaged specialised acute hospital services being built around the cornerstone of Northern Ireland’s six major hospitals- the Royal Victoria hospital, the Belfast City hospital, Craigavon, Antrim, Altnagelvin and the Ulster.”

It clearly states also that:

“While investment where appropriate will be made in other hospitals, it is expected that those SIX HOSPITALS will provide the main focus for FUTURE INVESTMENT in INPATIENT FACILITIES.”

Dept. of Health for Northern Ireland Regional Strategy (1997 – 2002) p65

These 6 hospitals out of 19 hospitals were envisaged as specialist acute hospitals, because of hospital size, NOT based on where the largest settlements of population lived, compared to England who the strategy stated would have 10 hospitals for a population the size of NI (1,649,131). The mid-year 1995 NISRA populations (Table) prove this.

They show that Daisy Hill acute Hospital, Newry & Mourne LGD – the FOURTH largest population (84,035) in NI, and Lisburn LGD (106,583), the SECOND Largest population in NI were COMPLETELY IGNORED for consideration as one of 6 major acute hospitals, while 3 other acute hospitals serving SMALLER populations in the local Government Districts of Craigavon, (population 77,689) Antrim (48,489), and Castlereagh (64,616) were listed for preservation.

investment in hospital buildings, acute specialist hospital services, hospital beds and specialist medical staff is needed in the Newry & Mourne area, in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, including in the Emergency Department.
New investment in acute specialist hospital services, hospital beds and specialist medical staff is due in the Newry & Mourne area, in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, including in the Emergency Department.
Doctor examining X-ray -Daisy Hill Acute Hospital Newry Imaging Consultation 2018

Accurate population demographics, as provided by NISRA must inform health planning and future investment in inpatient facilities across NI

This trend of ignoring population size has continued into the present (as the next post will show), so to truly combat the Northern Ireland wide health crisis – ACCURATE DEMOGRAPHICS provided by NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) must inform health planning. This includes using these official statistics, as presented by NISRA to determine WHERE Specialist acute Hospitals and specialist inpatient and outpatient acute services are located.

Acute Hospital accommodation and services are paid for through Rates and Taxes by everyone, irrespective of where they live in NI – Urban or Rural, everyone is entitled to equality of access to Hospital Care.

Further posts will look at the present and future NI Demographics in relation to location of acute hospital provision.

Official statistics, as presented by NISRA must determine where Specialist acute Hospitals are located in NI.

BACKGROUND
A Short History – Pre Centralisation – In 1995 there were 19 ACUTE HOSPITALS in Northern Ireland. (See Map or Full List at End of post.)

1995: All NI population: 1,649,131*

1995: 15 LARGEST POPULATION SETTLEMENTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND (Statistics from NISRA*)

(1st) Belfast: 288,932; (2nd) Lisburn: 106,583; (3rd) Derry: 102,123; (4th) Newry & Mourne: 84,035 (5th) Newtownabbey: 78, 426; (6th) Craigavon: 77,689 (7th) North Down: 75,519 (8th) Ards: 68,462 (9th) Castlereagh: 64,616 (10th) Down: 61,441.
[(11th) Ballymena: 58,039 (12th) Fermanagh: 55,405 (13th) Coleraine: 54,176, (14th): Armagh: 52,675 (15th) Antrim: 48,809 [NISRA]*

19 ACUTE HOSPITALS IN 1995 NI (Alphabetical order)
Altnagelvin (Derry); Antrim; Ards; Banbridge; Causeway (Coleraine); City (Belfast); Craigavon; Daisy Hill (Newry); Downe; Erne (Enniskillen); Lagan Valley (Lisburn) ; Mater (Belfast); Mid-Ulster(Magherafelt); Route (Ballymoney); Royal Group (Belfast); South Tyrone; Tyrone County (Omagh); Ulster (Castlereagh); Whiteabbey (Newtownabbey).

Sources:
NI Regional Strategy for Health and Social Wellbeing (1997- 2002) ‘Health and Wellbeing into the Next Millennium’

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