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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: 12 June 2026

BHSCT 153
NHSCT 147
SET 83
SHSCT 58
WHSCT 162
REGIONAL TOTAL 603

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

Date Belfast Northern South-Eastern Southern Western Grand Total
12/06/2026 14 40 81 21 33 189

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: 11 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 40 9 10 82
Belfast RVH 113 20 20 107
Belfast Belfast Total 153 29 30 189
Northern ANTRIM 128 45 43 151
Northern CAUSEWAY 63 17 22 103
Northern Northern Total 191 62 65 254
South Eastern ULSTER 186 52 46 94
South Eastern South East Total 186 52 46 94
Southern CRAIGAVON 74 25 26 169
Southern DAISY HILL 62 11 12 128
Southern Southern Total 136 36 38 297
Western ALTNAGELVIN 87 37 37 83
Western SWAH 40 11 10 74
Western Western Total 127 48 47 157
Regional Position Regional Total 793 227 226 991
  • 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.