"Serious pressure" mounting on NI hospital emergency units
Patients still waiting longer than they should
Last updated 1st May 2019
Health chiefs say they are determined to press ahead with plans to change how emergency departments in Northern Ireland are run.
It comes as the latest Accident and Emergency waiting time figures show little improvement.
Current targets say 95% of patients who go to a hospital emergency department should be treated and then discharged or admitted within four hours.
But in the first three months of this year that only happened 66% of the time.
The one bright light on the horizon could be that the number of people who waited for longer than 12 hours actually dropped.
In a statement, the Department of Health said EDs are continuing to experience "serious pressures" especially as there has been a big increase in the amount of people using them.
There were 204,170 attendances at EDs during the first three months of 2019 - a 6.2% increase on the same period in 2018.
A 13% increase was recorded in attendances by people aged 95 years and older.
Meanwhile, a summit on the review of urgent care will take place this summer, with a public consultation on proposed changes to follow later in the year.