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Service Pressures

The following update provides a regional overview of the current pressures and challenges across the HSC System in Northern Ireland.

Patients Declared Medically Optimised for Discharge with Complex Discharge Needs – Snapshot position as at 10.30 am

Date: 19 June 2026

BHSCT 143
NHSCT 135
SET 105
SHSCT 70
WHSCT 161
REGIONAL TOTAL 614

Number of beds occupied in addition to funded capacity by HSC Trust

Date Belfast Northern South-Eastern Southern Western Grand Total
19/06/2026 24 42 89 30 42 227

Table above shows the number of beds occupied in additional to funded bed capacity.
An escalation bed is a bed in addition to the funded allocated complement that is opened on a short term temporary basis to cope with demand or increased pressures.

Number of Patients in Emergency Departments

The information is taken from a live, operational dashboard and only provides a snapshot of Emergency Departments at a particular point in time. Therefore, as the situation in Emergency Departments is very dynamic, the information cannot and should not be taken as the definitive position.

Emergency Departments – Snapshot Position at 1.30pm

Date: 19 June 2026

Trust Hospital Total Waiting in Emergency Department Over 12 hours Number of Patients Waiting for Admission to a Hospital Bed (DTA) ED Attendances previous 24hrs (midnight to midnight)
Belfast MATER 37 7 9 96
Belfast RVH 114 18 16 188
Belfast Belfast Total 151 25 25 284
Northern ANTRIM 110 42 37 232
Northern CAUSEWAY 50 20 22 127
Northern Northern Total 160 62 59 359
South Eastern ULSTER 167 48 45 191
South Eastern South East Total 167 48 45 191
Southern CRAIGAVON 79 34 36 219
Southern DAISY HILL 39 8 10 150
Southern Southern Total 118 42 46 369
Western ALTNAGELVIN 81 48 37 136
Western SWAH 45 14 14 120
Western Western Total 126 62 51 256
Regional Position Regional Total 722 239 226 1459
  • Information provided relates to Type 1 sites only. Type 1 departments are defined as those with a consultant-led service with designated accommodation for the reception of emergency care patients, providing both emergency medicine and emergency surgical services on a round the clock basis.
  • In Emergency Departments, the sickest and most critically injured patients will be prioritised. People with less serious conditions unfortunately may have to wait longer to be seen, treated, and either discharged or admitted to a hospital bed. Please consider other services, including Urgent Care Centres (which are now running in RVH in Belfast and Downe Hospitals), Minor Injury Units, GP Out of Hours, or your own GP.  Pharmacists now also have additional services in place and can also offer advice and treatment for common conditions and refer patients to other healthcare professionals as appropriate.
  • These figures do not include Urgent Care & Phone First attendances.