You are here: Home » Latest News » Northern Trust winter appeal

Northern Trust winter appeal

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is appealing for the public’s support during the busy winter period.

As people prepare for Christmas and New Year, health and social care staff will be on the front line, ready to treat those in most urgent need.

To help with the challenges around increasing demand, there are some things we can all do to which could make a difference at this challenging time of year.

This includes making use of the Trust’s Phone First service, co-operating with hospital discharge arrangements, getting vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 if eligible and choosing the right care based on each individual’s needs.

Phone First

The Northern Trust’s Director of Operations, Gillian Traub, explains: “While the health and social care system experiences sustained pressures all year round, the winter period traditionally brings increased demand on our acute services, particularly around unscheduled, emergency care.

“My advice to anyone who is thinking of attending our Emergency Departments in Antrim and Causeway, or our Minor Injuries Unit, with an injury or illness which is not immediately life-threatening, please Phone First by calling 0300 123 1 123.

“This will allow you to get advice directly from a triage nurse, who will be able to advise on the next steps to meet your needs.

“In an emergency situation, don’t delay and always ring 999 immediately but in other circumstances Phone First is the best course of action for you.

“Having a conversation with the triage nurse could help you to avoid a trip to a busy ED by directing you to the best source of care for your needs. In turn this allows our staff to focus on patients who are most in need of emergency care.”

Timely discharge can also help to ease pressure on our hospitals by ensuring we can look after for those who are most in need of a hospital bed.

Dave Watkins, Executive Director of Medicine at the Northern Trust, added: “We’re asking patients, families and carers to work with us to ensure our discharge processes are as safe and effective as possible. Where follow-on care is required, please co-operate with us if a first choice is not immediately available, or as close to home as you would like.

“Staying longer in hospital than you need to has a negative impact on overall health and wellbeing so it’s in everyone’s interest that patients leave our hospitals as soon as their medical treatment is complete.”

Care options

It’s also important to remember that there are a range of alternative options you can turn to for care, dependent on your needs, including your local GP, GP out-of-hours, pharmacy or self-care.

The Pharmacy First service, offered through community pharmacies, provides advice and treatment for a range of everyday health conditions, along with services for emergency contraception and urinary tract infections (UTI), without waiting for a GP appointment.

Following a successful pilot scheme last winter, a new Pharmacy First sore throat service is now widely available with pharmacists able to offer assessment, advice and treatment.

To avail of any of the Pharmacy First services, call into your local pharmacy for a private consultation without the need for an appointment.

All individuals in clinical risk groups who are aged from six months to 65 years, as well as those aged 65 years and older, are advised to receive the seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

Vaccination clinics

If you are ‘at risk’, either due to older age, a health condition, medical treatment or pregnancy, you are at increased chance of becoming seriously unwell if you contract flu or COVID-19. These viruses tend to circulate at higher levels during the winter months. Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases as they teach our immune system how to recognise and fight viruses. They are safe, effective and free for all those in the eligible groups.

Anyone who is eligible can drop into one of our upcoming clinics between 10am and 3pm.

Monday 6 January, Mid Ulster Hospital canteen
Tuesday 7 January, Causeway Hospital canteen
Wednesday 8 January, Antrim Area Hospital canteen
Thursday 9 January, Braid Valley Hospital canteen
Friday 10 January, Whiteabbey Hospital canteen

Alternatively you can check with your GP or pharmacist.

People aged 75, as well as those already aged 76 to 79 years as a catch-up cohort, and pregnant women from 28 weeks’ gestation, are encouraged to avail of the RSV vaccine. RSV is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs and the vaccination programme can protect those eligible against it.