To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) how many people where admitted to Emergency Departments in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in 2023; and (ii) how many people had to wait longer than the Trust’s target time for admission.

Information on (i) the number of attendances at Emergency Departments (EDs) in the Northern Health and Social (HSC) Trust, in 2023, and (ii) how many of those attendances did not meet the target of being treated and admitted to hospital within 4 hours of arrival at ED, is provided in Table 1 overleaf.

Please note that the number of attendances is based on new and unplanned review attendances only and does not equate to the number of patients treated, as a patient may attend emergency care departments more than once during each year.

A new attendance refers to the first unplanned attendance by a patient for a new clinical condition at an ED / Minor Injuries Unit (MIU).

An unplanned review attendance relates to any patient who returns to an ED / Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) without written instruction, for the same or related clinical condition within 30 days of the first (initial) attendance.

The length of time a patient waits refers to the time between entering the ED and being logged in at reception, until leaving the ED via discharge or admission to hospital.

Table 1: Number of Attendances (New and Unplanned Reviews Only) at Emergency Departments in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, in 2023, and the Number of those Attendances that did not meet the Target of being Treated and Admitted Within 4 Hours of Arrival at ED