The Department of Health has said the flu vaccine uptake has been “very disappointing” as the Health Minister said the number of people in hospital with the illness is 3.6 times higher than last year.
Mike Nesbitt, who is the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party was giving evidence at an emergency meeting of the health committee this afternoon which was held after the Department of Health was criticised by the Alliance Party and the DUP.
It comes amid reports that at least two elderly patients have been in the emergency department (ED) at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in Belfast for over five days despite being deemed fit for discharge.
Staff at the hospital have admitted the most vulnerable patients are being treated in an “intolerable environment” as reports surfaced of one person being cared for in an unused tearoom.
Around 500 patients were unable to be discharged from hospitals across the region on Sunday night due to a lack of suitable care packages.
SDLP health spokesperson Colin McGrath also said the Department of Health’s plan for the winter months was “too little, too late’.”
Speaking during the committee meeting, the Public Health Agency’s Dr Joanne McLean said vaccine update was “very disappointing” and revealed only 6.4% of care home workers have taken up the flu vaccine, while 18% of health and social care staff overall have taken it.
Mr Nesbitt also confirmed the flu vaccination, which was previously only available on the NHS to those vulnerable or aged over 65, will now be available to those over 50 years old.
The sore throat service, a community pharmacy roll out programme, which was due to end at the end of this month, will also be extended until March.
“We have done a lot to promote the vaccines, so it’s been disappointing,” said Dr McLean.
“In terms of flu season, this is the worst we have seen since before Covid, so it’s significantly worse than last year.”
She also said she believed the “peak of admissions” for influenza had been reached.
“Luckily, we haven’t had much Covid around at the same time, but the flu peak hit just before Christmas.
“It continues to be a worse flu season than last year, but we do think we have reached the peak of admissions and we expect as the weeks go on, the reduction will go down.”
Mr Nesbitt also noted “vaccine hesitancy” as a factor in drop in the number of people accepting the jab, but said the issue was “not confined to Northern Ireland”.
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He also said people are “surrendering their decency and privacy” during long-wait times in hospitals across Northern Ireland, with the Health Minister recalling a visit to Altnagelvin Area Hospital where he witnessed a man sitting in a chair for almost four days.
“Emergency department pressures are not a symptom, not the cause, and that is not my view. It’s the one of the Royal College of Nursing and Emergency Medicine – it’s a whole system challenge that we face.
“I am offering a blank page to look forward to the winter of 2025, and I ask the committee what part they want to play and if they want to be positive, because it appears to me certain MLAs only engage after the fact when the opportunity arises to criticise without alternatives.”
He said his Department’s winter plan had been planned since spring 2024 and anticipated a “difficult winter” and “would not eliminate the pressures but mitigate them”.
”If anyone around this table has a quick or easy solution, I am afraid they are mistaken. ED’s need staff, and without the staff everything else is meaningless. My focus was to avoid industrial action from staff.”
He also said the percentage of funding given to the Department of Health, is a “red herring,” and instead it is about “accessed need”.
“It is also about efficiency and productivity – but neither will close the gap between demand and necessity.”
When asked about the Acute Care at Home Service – which is currently only offered by the Southern Trusts and Belfast Trusts by Sinn Fein MLA Liz Kimmins, and how to expand the service, Mr Nesbitt said it was the “future”.
“This is the future. It delivers better outcomes, and I am keen this year to discuss how we expand these services,” he said.
“We have to look at the phone first service, around 160,000 people have used phone first in the first year, and a quarter of those phone calls have resulted in people going to an ED.”
The Health Minister also ruled out military assistance, after speculation members of the military would be called into Northern Ireland to assist with emergency department pressure.
“In terms of the military, because the problem is within the hospitals, I don’t see a practical role for the military coming in – I think when they were here for Covid, they offered vaccines and physically moved people around hospitals, and that’s not what we need,” said Mr Nesbitt.