29 minute read
The FT’s Chris Giles on Brexit, Covid and
Brexit loss could dwarf climate cost and Covid impact
Brexit, rather than Covid-19, is the primary headwind facing the UK economy, according to Economics Editor of the Financial Times, Chris Giles.
“The UK economy is in a much better place than had been expected even a year ago,” explains Giles.
The FT’s Economics Editor was speaking at the 26th annual Northern Ireland Economic Conference in December 2021 and highlighted that a loss of 3 per cent of the economy in the second wave of Covid, compared to a 25 per cent loss in April 2020, shows that the UK economy has learnt to mitigate the pandemic, and lockdowns in particular.
Latest data shows that the UK economy was only 0.6 per cent below pre-pandemic levels in September 2021, a significant difference than the over 4 per cent drop predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in November 2020 and the over 3 per cent drop predicted in March 2021.
Giles explains that a swifter recovery than expected is in large part due to the vaccination programme and the ability to open up the economy faster than originally expected. However, he urges caution in the high uncertainty of current figures, stating that the ONS is currently trying to reconcile the disparity between other economic measurement methods which outline a 3 per cent fall in incomes from prepandemic level and an over one per cent drop in output, over the quarter.
It is for this reason that he also urges caution when comparing international economies. However, current best available statistics show that the UK economy is performing similar to its counterparts, including Canada, Italy and Germany, but less well than France and the US.
A notable consequence of improved economic circumstances beyond expectation is inflation and in December 2020, UK inflation jumped to 5.4 per cent, its highest rate in 30 years, meaning a squeeze on household incomes and a deepening of the cost-of-living crisis.
Interestingly, the UK as a whole shares a similar picture as in Northern Ireland, where there are now more pay-rolled employees than prepandemic, meaning a tight labour market and again reflecting a much better position than expected. The current UK unemployment rate of around 4 per cent is significantly lower than the 10-15 per cent rate predicted at the start of the pandemic.
“This pandemic has not been an employment story at all,” states Giles.
However, looking under the headline figures, Giles points to an “extremely unusual spread” between the performance of different sectors. The Economics Editor says that some sectors falling by 75 per cent while others rise by 20-30 per cent over a period of 18 months is unique.
These different impacts on productivity have led to various data spikes but, as a whole, the UK is close to its pre-pandemic productivity trend. A major reason for this is the level of government borrowing to insure businesses and households against the pandemic, the largest level of public borrowing in any time since the world wars.
Brexit
While Giles admits that it is still early days when assessing the long-term effect of both Covid-19 and Brexit, he highlights the widening of the gap between the eurozone and US economies, which existed at the point of the referendum.
“What we can say so far is that Brexit does appear to be having a detrimental impact on the UK economy,” states Giles. “Something like 2-3 per cent would be a reasonable estimate of the
A V-shaped recovery from an unusal recession
The global financial crisis economic hit dwarfs Brexit and Covid-19
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effect on the UK economy of a Brexit hit, compared to where we might otherwise have expected to be, had the referendum gone in the other direction.”
Giles highlights that the impact of Brexit is particularly evident in trade figures, where UK exports have lagged other countries. Similarly, while exports, particularly of goods, have done extremely well around the world this year, UK exports have “not joined the party”. “Our share of world exports has pretty much fallen along the line with estimates as predicted by the OBR in 2016 after the referendum,” he says.
Giles says that at the moment there is no reason to doubt the long-term estimate of a 4 per cent hit from Brexit for the UK economy, stressing that this does not mean a 4 per cent reduction but that the UK will forgo 4 per cent of economic activity it might otherwise have had.
Net zero
The 4 per cent is extremely significant when considering the huge amount of investment which will be required if the UK is to reach its ambition of net zero emissions over the next 30 years. The Climate Change Commission estimates that the UK will require about £50 billion a year of investment given that upfront investment in green energy offers a return, the CCC offers an estimated net cost of around 0.5 per cent of national income (£11-12 billion) per year.
“This is a reasonable burden, but it is worth noting that the 0.5 per cent is significantly less than the 3-4 per cent missed as a result of Brexit,” says Giles.
Prospects
Looking to the future, Giles believes that scope for rapid growth of the economy still exists, particularly in relation to consumption growth, given that levels of household savings remain very high. He acknowledges that a return to pre-global financial crisis is out of the question but adds: “We might get on a better trend than the pre-pandemic path and that is a reasonable hope for the UK looking forward.”
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Driving Northern Ireland’s EV charging network
Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure will play an important role in acting as a catalyst for encouraging the electrification of transport by supporting EV drivers throughout Northern Ireland.
Following a significant investment and commitment by ESB to replace and upgrade the existing public charging infrastructure, access and the experience of the network for current and future EV drivers is set to be completely transformed over the coming years.
In November 2021, ESB announced that it had secured £3.27 million from the Levelling Up Fund (LUF), a £4.8 billion government fund to support infrastructure projects across the UK, to expand and enhance the EV charging network across Northern Ireland.
Fastest and most advanced charging
Coupled with its own investment, this new funding enables ESB to replace all existing fast (22kW) and rapid (50kW) EV chargers across Northern Ireland, updating the infrastructure with the fastest, most reliable and advanced technology available. The exciting new project will more than double the existing number of rapid chargers here and will also see the introduction of high power (200kW) charging for the first time in Northern Ireland through the delivery of five high power hubs in key locations. These can charge multiple vehicles simultaneously and can provide EV drivers with 100km of range in as little as six minutes.
John Byrne (pictured), head of ESB ecars, says this project demonstrates ESB’s deep commitment to enabling the electrification of transport in Northern Ireland at such a critical time in our transition to a low-carbon future. “This investment will completely revamp the EV charging network in Northern Ireland, modernising it, making it faster and more reliable for our customers and will support the growing numbers of EVs on our roads. With electrification a key climate target for governments around the world, including here in Northern Ireland, investment at this time is crucial to build a charging network that will better meet the needs of existing EV drivers and attract more drivers to choose EVs.”
ESB has operated the largest EV charging network on the island of Ireland, consisting of more than 1,350 charging points, for more than 10 years. In recent years, ESB has also deployed extensive public EV charging networks in London, Coventry and Birmingham.
The charging infrastructure and associated technology has advanced significantly since the company installed its first EV chargers over a decade ago. In Northern Ireland, work has recently concluded on a project to improve the network with ESB upgrading more than 30 charge points at key locations over the last six months, bringing their availability to over 96 per cent for customers. These recently upgraded charge points are located throughout Northern Ireland in areas including Bangor, Belfast, Larne, Lisburn, Derry,
Armagh, Enniskillen, Omagh, Downpatrick, Ballymena, Portrush and Newry.
As Byrne notes, it is the company’s aim to achieve this level of availability across the entire network. “It is our ambition that the charging network in Northern Ireland will reach and maintain reliability levels above 98 per cent as the Levelling-Up project progresses over the next 24 months.”
Collaboration
This new investment, in turn, will help accelerate the uptake of EVs in Northern Ireland, where almost 5,000 drivers are currently using ESB’s network of 175 public charge points.
“We are currently assessing sites suitable for the new charging stations, with locations dependent on several factors including current charge point usage, customer feedback, traffic volumes, accessibility, amenities and grid capacity at the sites. As always, we will seek to work with all local stakeholders and authorities to ensure the sites are accessible to all,” explains Byrne, who says collaboration with government and local authorities is critical to achieving climate targets and encouraging the electrification of transport.
“We are grateful to all the MLAs and local councils who supported our submission for the Levelling Up Fund and look forward to delivering the new EV charging network that will bring so many positive benefits to current and future EV drivers, communities and the environment.”
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA, whose department is at the forefront of developing and implementing policies which will support the decarbonisation transport in Northern Ireland, recognised the significance of this investment, stating: “This will provide confidence to existing and new drivers of electric vehicles here through the enhancement of our charging infrastructure. A modern and efficient EV charging infrastructure is essential at this time as we address the climate emergency and make the transition to cleaner and greener modes of transport.” “With electrification a key climate target for governments around the world, including here in Northern Ireland, investment at this time is crucial to build a charging network that will better meet the needs of existing EV drivers and attract more drivers to choose EVs.”
Future-proofing
Maintaining the network and providing associated support to EV drivers including a 24/7 call centre, IT systems and the integrated ecar connect app is critical to the long-term success and improvement of the service for all users. The app, which allows drivers to find a charger, see if the charger is in use, map out their journey, start and stop a charge, and sign up and manage their account, will see new features added in the coming months to make it easier for drivers to charge and go.
“The network has been free to use for more than 10 years. To ensure we can continue to invest and future-proof the network, a pricing model is necessary to ensure everyone gets the best experience and service possible,” says Byrne.
“We continue to recommend that EV owners do most of their charging at home if possible and use our network for top-ups or long journeys. As demonstrated in the other areas we operate, our pricing models are still significantly cheaper than conventional fuels, even during these times of high energy costs.
“As we look to the future, our focus will be on developing commercial partnerships to improve the network, further expansion of the network, utilising the very best of new technologies and identifying ways to make it easier for drivers to charge on the go.
“With the importance and benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon future widely recognised, it is action like this, that supports the electrification of transport, that is a critical component in reducing emissions and meeting climate targets,” adds Byrne.
For more information visit www.esb.ie/ecars/NI
Delivering innovation and green growth: The Housing Executive’s plans to tackle climate change
Hitting net zero: Minister for Communities Deirdre Hargey MLA (centre) joins Housing Executive Chief Executive Grainia Long (right) and Gerry McAvoy from M and M Construction, inspecting properties in the Cliftondene area of north Belfast currently being modernised to improve their energy efficiency. The scheme is funded with €2.3 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through its Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme for Northern Ireland, with a further €26 million invested by the Housing Executive. Almost 2,000 homes will be upgraded.
With a budget of £1.2 billion annually, the Housing Executive is a major economic force in Northern Ireland.
As the strategic housing authority for Northern Ireland, working in partnership with the Department for Communities, the organisation is responsible for tackling homelessness, determining and addressing housing need, administering Housing Benefit, overseeing housing support services through the Supporting People programme, providing private sector grants and overseeing the social housing new build programme, which will deliver 1,900 social homes this year, developed by housing associations.
The organisation’s wide range of functions and services mean that it has an investment impact not only in housing but also across the construction, health, voluntary and community sectors. As the Home Energy Conservation Authority it will also play a significant role in the delivery of the newly launched Energy Strategy Path to Net Zero Energy Action Plan.
As a landlord of 85,000 homes, through its annual maintenance programme, the Housing Executive has a direct role in generating local economic outcomes, sustaining jobs and supply chains. This year will see £220 million invested through maintenance programmes with plans for up to £260 million in 2022/23.
However, with housing accounting for 14 per cent of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the Housing Executive is committed to ensuring that investment in its homes drives green growth, through a commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. At the core of the programmes is a range of innovative technologies to address the impact of climate change and improve sustainability. Taking a ‘fabric first’ approach to decarbonisation of homes, and delivering at scale in this decade, presents a once in a generation opportunity to improve housing standards, reduce energy costs of households and create jobs.
The Energy Efficiency in Social Housing project is a multi-million-pound investment programme to improve the energy performance of almost 2,000 of its homes. This has been made possible by funding of €23 million secured from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through its Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme for Northern Ireland 2014-2020.
A further €22 million of funding is being invested by the Housing Executive.
This six-year €45 million programme is expected to be completed by September 2023. Several schemes have already been completed or are currently underway. The schemes include improving thermal efficiency in aluminium bungalows and ‘no fines’ dwellings through the provision of new external wall cladding, new double glazing, improved ventilation and loft insulation.
The Rural-Led Energy Transition (RULET) Pilot is a joint initiative between the Housing Executive and Ulster University, within SPIRE 2 which is an EU funded project aimed at reducing or eliminating the risk of low-income households being left behind in the energy transition. The focus is the domestic electrical heating systems, when combined with energy storage and can this system be delivered and operated at scale. The RULET project commenced on site in winter 2021 and monitoring will continue over the next two heating seasons.
Small Business Research Initiative
The Housing Executive recently launched a Research and Development competition to quickly develop ‘Smart’ systems that to help reduce the carbon emissions from heating homes by using more local clean renewable energy and enable our tenants to keep their homes warm and dry, while saving on energy costs. The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition is funded by the Department for the Economy and project-managed by the Housing Executive and the Strategic Investment Board. In Phase 1 of SBRI, four companies are receiving up to £30,000 each to test new ideas in preparation for a Phase II and more funding after March, which will involve further testing in homes. Some of the benefits of the smart systems will be enabling tenants to monitor temperatures to pre-heat homes and provide hot water using renewable power; reduce the risk of damp and mould; and introduce new meters that make better use of lower cost electricity tariffs. The Housing Executive will use this innovative programme to advise its heating systems within its own homes and in the wider housing sector.
Sustainable homes: Tenants in social housing in these houses in Belfast will benefit from retrofitting through more comfortable, manageable homes, with lower bills.
Lisnafin Park Refurbishment
The Housing Executive is planning to refurbish and modernise a derelict block of six flats in Strabane to bring it back into use, and to help meet the needs of the older applicants on the waiting list in the area. The design of the renovation and associated works benefits from greater thermal properties, increased insulation and the installation of renewable energy heating by solar and geothermal technologies.
At the same time the Housing Executive will be using the opportunity to trial assisted living and explore how tenants could benefit from the latest innovative technologies to control their home. The assistive technology will mean that the residents will be able to control communal and flat doors, remote access, the heating thermostat and internal lighting.
New Build Pilot: Modern Methods of Construction
The decision by the Minister for Communities to launch a major revitalisation programme, to reform the Housing Executive so that it can borrow to invest in its homes and add to new supply represents a major opportunity, and is planned for delivery in 2025. However, between now and then, opportunities are being explored to innovate, for example, through a pilot Modern Methods of Construction pilot with the Department for Communities, which will enable the Housing Executive to build a small number of homes and explore ways to apply the best new standards in building technology. The first scheme will provide six semidetached dwellings and will incorporate Modern Methods of Construction, ultralow energy building techniques and mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system with integral heat pump.
The Housing Executive is looking to explore if a building can produce net zero greenhouse gas emissions in use, known as ‘zero carbon in use’. Embodied energy can also be reduced by using low-carbon building materials and construction methods. The standards explored in this pilot far exceed current building regulations. The hope is that building to high energy standards now, will futureproof new builds, to avoid the need to retrofit to achieve net zero by 2050.
Housing Executive T: 03448 920 900 E: information@nihe.gov.uk W: www.nihe.gov.uk
Ireland tops Europe and Britain in high-value FDI attraction
The Northern Ireland Protocol has become an advantage in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), a new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found, with high-value FDI now accounting for over 70 per cent of all new greenfield FDI projects on the island of Ireland.
In its report, Enhancing the attractiveness of the island of Ireland to high-value foreign direct investment, the ESRI found that “Northern Ireland’s continued access to the EU single market for goods secured through the Protocol is a key comparative advantage for attracting high-value FDI relative to the other regions in the UK”.
The findings of the report back up this assertion, with the FDI in high-value sectors in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland showing greater shares of all new greenfield FDI projects than Great Britain or the remaining 26 EU state outside of the Republic. The highvalue sectors included in the ESRI’s analysis include: aerospace; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; medical devices; semiconductors; business machines and equipment; electronic components; consumer electronics; communications; software and IT services; financial services; business servicers; and space and defence.
Greenfield FDI projects are defined as “new operations established by foreign companies at a new site”. These highvalue projects account for 76 per cent of all new greenfield FDI project in the Republic of Ireland and 70 per cent in Northern Ireland, compared to 67 per cent in Britain and 51 per cent in the EU26. 70 per cent and 76 per cent of new greenfield FDI in the Republic and North respectively are accounted for by these high-value projects, compared to 39 per cent in Britain and 24 per cent in the EU26. High-value FDI on both sides of the border in Ireland is dominated by services, which accounts for 86 per cent of all high-value FDI in the Republic and 91 per cent in Northern Ireland. Services account for 87 per cent and 80 per cent of the high-value FDI in Britain and the EU26 respectively.
Northern Ireland high-value FDI market is dominated by software and IT services, with these projects accounting for 53 per cent of new high-value greenfield FDI projects from 2003-2020; only two other sectors – business services (19.2 per cent) and communications (10.5 per cent) – account for more than 10 per cent of the market. Software and IT services is the dominant sector in all jurisdictions considered, although not to the extent of
Northern Ireland. It accounts for 36.3 per cent, 42.4 per cent, and 32.1 per cent in the Republic of Ireland, Britain, and the EU26 respectively.
Consistent with the report’s assertion that Northern Ireland’s access to the EU’s market is giving it a comparative advantage to the rest of the UK in attracting high-value FDI are the report’s findings on the origin of high-value FDI investors from 2003-2020 in Ireland, Britain and Europe. While all markets received the majority of their high-value FDI from non-EU investors, Britain recorded a proportion of 74.4 per cent of investors from outside the EU, with Northern Ireland being next closest of the four markets with a rate of 64.8 per cent, more comparable to that of the Republic, 64.2 per cent. FDI into the EU26 was an almost perfect split, with 50.1 per cent of high-value FDI coming from outside the EU.
The research “indicate[s] that the attractiveness of a given location in the EU and UK is positively associated with EU market potential, domestic market growth, low labour costs, agglomeration economies in knowledge-intensive sectors, availability of skills, R&D expenditure in the public sector (government and higher education), government funding of business expenditure on R&D, broadband access, low corporate taxation, less restrictive regulations with respect to FDI and less complex business regulations”.
With these determining factors in mind, the report examines a range of possible scenarios for enhancing the attractiveness of the island of Ireland with regard to FDI. The ESRI’s research “finds that the largest gains in terms of the number of high-value FDI projects that would be attracted to both [the Republic of] Ireland and Northern Ireland would be in the case of higher R&D expenditure in the public sector”, and in the case of Northern Ireland, that attractiveness would also be increased by “a situation of increased educational attainment of the working-age population”.
Another suggestion within is the development of “complementarities between the two jurisdictions”, particularly in regard to EU market potential, workplace skills and investment in R&D in the public sector. To this extent, the report notes, already existing initiatives in Ireland such as the North-South Research Programme and the proposed all-island centres of research excellence are “likely to contribute to enhancing the attractiveness of both jurisdictions to high-value FDI”.
The report also estimates that plans for the Republic to move to a corporate tax rate of 15 per cent in line with global reform of corporate tax rates will result in the Republic suffering a decrease of 4.4 per cent per annum in high-value FDI, with Northern Ireland, where the rate is 19 per cent, experiencing a corresponding increase of 7.5 per cent per annum.
Policy choices that the ESRI suggest in order to compensate for the Republic’s decreased attractiveness upon the increase of the corporate tax rate include: increased R&D spend in the public sector; increased government funding of business R&D; and the incentivisation of higher proportions of the working-age population in participation in education and training and in the attainment of upper secondary and third-level education.
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The future is physics
In delivering a step change to its economy, Northern Ireland must change how it thinks about physics and provide full recognition of its place and role in the education system, skills development, job creation, productivity and research and development.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK and Ireland. It seeks to raise public awareness and understanding of physics, inspire people to develop their knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of physics and support the development of a diverse and inclusive physics community. As a charity, it has a mission to ensure that physics delivers on its exceptional potential to benefit society.
As a society we face an unprecedented array of challenges. Globally, we need to address a changing climate and a growing population, to decarbonise economies, improve healthcare and ensure water, food and energy supplies. Domestically, we need to develop the next generation of industries to create jobs and improve productivity to safeguard citizens’ futures.
Physics has a vital role to play in tackling these issues and helping make the UK and Ireland fit for a new industrial era of science, technology and engineering, an era the IOP wants to see the UK and Ireland transformed into science superpowers. There is much opportunity but for it to be fully grasped Northern Ireland’s physics-based businesses need supported in skills and research and development (R&D).
The IOP’s Workforce Skills Survey for the UK and Ireland found a common picture. With physics skills underpinning productive industries in both, strengthening provision of physics skills is central to ambitions to improve economic growth, prosperity and living standards at national and local levels.
Beyond a new approach to physics in our education system the actions needed now are:
• ensuring availability of a variety of physics education and training pathways, as well as complementary transferable and digital skills development, all informed by close engagement between educators, employers, and researchers and innovators;
• incentivising employers to invest in employees’ upskilling and reskilling; and
• ensuring interventions aimed at strengthening provision of physics skills move beyond the level of ‘STEM skills’, given the distinct labour market demand for physics knowledge.
Despite preconceptions, the demand for physics spans all skills levels. High-skill-level roles are seeing the fastest growth, with the number of jobs for physical scientists, for example, growing by 40 per cent between 2010 and 2020, more than half (53 per cent) of physics-demanding jobs do not require a degree.
Already there is significant unmet demand for physics skills, with a substantial number of physics-demanding roles at any one time (nearly 9,000 high-duration vacancies in mid-2021, having quickly recovered to pre-pandemic levels) seeming to persist in being hard to fill.
There is strong, sustained growth in demand for physics skills, particularly outside of the scientific sector, with a significant proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies being for digital, and business and finance roles, reflecting their importance, but likely to exacerbate existing skills shortages in the coming years.
While Physics Based Industries (PBIs) come under many different names it includes advanced manufacturing, sciences and technology services, medical equipment servicing, energy sector and telecoms. Whatever the enterprises are called PBIs are a major and key contributor to Northern Ireland and have the potential to do much more.
The IOP’s research into the impact of PBIs, shows in Northern Ireland they account for nearly 50,000 full-time employees. They contribute £3.5 billion to Northern Ireland’s Gross Value Added (GVA) the same contribution as the retail sector and represents 7.3 per cent of Northern Ireland’s GDP. The annual turnover is worth £10 billion making it larger than the construction sector. With productivity a major challenge for the Northern Ireland and broader UK economy, the physics sector is a trailblazer with labour productivity of £71,966 per worker. As a sector it provides high value jobs with average employee compensation of £34,791.
In the past decade, while Northern Ireland PBIs achieved the highest GVA growth (47 per cent) of all UK regions, 21 per cent employment growth (13 per cent UK average) and in Northern Ireland their productivity growth of 21.3 per cent was almost five times the Northern Ireland performance of 4.5 per cent. With 92 per cent of the 5,285 physics-based companies being microsized (less than 10 employees) the opportunities for more growth, better jobs and higher productivity are there to be taken.
R&D, and its commercialisation, is the next piece to becoming science superpowers but both the UK (1.8 per cent) and Ireland (1.4 per cent) fall well below the OECD average of spending 2.4 per cent of GDP and behind key competitors such as Germany who spend 3 per cent or more. In 2021, the IOP commissioned the report Paradigm Shift analysing the R&D work of UK and Irish PBIs. It highlighted the need for more, longer-term investment sustained throughout the R&D chain with government incentives vital to achieve this.
Key performance indicators included the scale of investment, track record of securing government resources and relationships between industry and research institutions. The Northern Ireland PBIs performed well in industry/research relationships and securing government resources (both at UK and Northern Ireland levels) but amongst lower on scale of investment than elsewhere in the UK. The challenge is how to make this ‘small but perfectly formed’ research community can be upscaled. The survey showed Northern Ireland PBIs involved in R&D planned to increase their commitment and saw it as central to their future development.
The Department for Economy’s new 10x vision for the next decade makes clear the need for:
“…a step change in how we think about our economy”.
Part of that step change must be how Northern Ireland thinks about physics and provides full recognition of its place and role in the education system, skills development, job creation, productivity and research and development.
For further information visit us at iop.org
Humanitarian charity provide “surge capacity” amid winter and Covid pressures
A humanitarian charity has said that it provided surge capacity to at least 13 emergency departments and community hospitals in Northern Ireland due to winter pressures and Covid-19.
The British Red Cross, a volunteer-led humanitarian organisation that helps people in crisis, is part of a worldwide movement, originally created to bring assistance to those wounded on the battlefield.
It now operates in an international and national capacity “to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found”.
In Northern Ireland, the Red Cross delivers non-clinical support to the health service all year round, but say they are delivering “extra support” during a busy winter period.
“Our teams provide services all year round as well as providing surge capacity at times of high demand such as annual winter pressures and, of course, during the Covid pandemic where we have worked with partners to support vaccine clinics and provide additional assistance to the ambulance service and hospital colleagues,” a spokesperson says.
In mid-January 2022, the Red Cross was within seven hospitals in Northern Ireland, supporting the emergency departments, and six smaller community hospitals.
Emergency departments in Northern Ireland have come under extreme pressure in recent months, with many warning of long waits for non-life-threatening injuries. The pandemic has compounded pressures on the health service which have been straining to deal with winter demand for many years.
At the end December 2021, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust was forced to issue a statement on the “extreme pressure” the Ulster Hospital was under, citing 135 patients and 55 awaiting admission, the Trust warned that those with non-life-threatening injuries would have “to wait a very long time”. In January, an emergency department consultant in Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry said that staff shortages meant it was “almost impossible” to provide safe services and described it as the “worst situation” he had seen in his 30-year career.
At the end of August 2021, health trusts appealed to people to stay away from hospitals except in cases of medical emergency.
Additionally, the humanitarian charity said that as part of their Covid support service, it had been collecting and delivering medications for clinically extremely vulnerable people, who have been advised not to leave home, adding: “We also provide other non-clinical support such as our community connector services which help people overcome loneliness and build social connections, an issue which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that the Department fully supports steps the HSC Trusts have taken to increase capacity and deliver much needed care to patients.
“Our hospitals have been under persistent and severe pressure for many months. The system as a whole has been operating above 100 per cent capacity since the summer, with hundreds of patients waiting daily for a hospital bed.
“These pressures are most acutely seen in our emergency departments. More recently, high staff absence rates due to the prevalence of the Omicron variant has further impacted on our HSC Trusts’ capacity to deliver care.
“The Department fully supports any steps that our HSC Trusts have taken to increase capacity to deliver much needed care to patients.”
Justice report
