Northern Trust has paused a withdrawal planned for November 27 so it can be reassessed. Belfast’s line closed at the end of September, and the instruction does not direct it to reopen.
Northern Ireland’s health minister has instructed trusts that still operate Phone First to pause plans to end it. People with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions call the service before traveling to hospital to find out whether they need an emergency department or can get care elsewhere. It aims to reduce unnecessary emergency-department visits.
Northern Trust interim chief executive Suzanne Pullins told Stormont’s Health Committee on 5 November that the trust had been told to pause its formal withdrawal for reassessment. Its line had been due to close on 27 November.
Belfast Trust had already closed its line at the end of September. The instruction concerns planned withdrawals and does not direct Belfast to reopen it. The Department of Health said the trust had moved its Phone First staff to urgent care services to secure access to urgent and emergency care.
The department told BBC News NI that trusts which had not ended Phone First would discuss extensions with their external providers. That is a step toward keeping the lines open, not a confirmation of their long-term future.
Western Trust said its service was operating normally while it assessed spending and affordability; it had made no decision. Southern Trust said it had no plans to withdraw the service. South Eastern Trust said services at Lagan Valley and Downe hospitals would remain unchanged. It said Phone First was not required at the Ulster Hospital because its urgent care center directs patients to the appropriate service when they arrive.
Belfast Trust said other care options remained available and directed people with urgent but non-life-threatening illness or injury to its Choose the Right Care webpage. People should call 999 immediately if someone’s life is at risk.
Phone First began during the pandemic in late 2020 to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading in crowded waiting rooms. It was trialed at Causeway Hospital and gradually extended across all five hospital trust areas.
Pullins said the proposed Northern Trust withdrawal was not a reflection on a valued service, but that there were no easy choices given the savings required. Phone First costs the trust £500,000 (about $670,000) to run, and the trust has been asked to save £53.8 million (about $72.4 million) this year.
Belfast Trust had estimated that closing its line would save approximately £500,000 (about $670,000). Its chief executive, Jennifer Welsh, cited a projected £800 million (about $1.1 billion) shortfall in Northern Ireland’s health budget and said trusts had been told to find savings without harming service users. Finance director Claire Corry said the trust did not want to close the line but considered it the “least worst option.”
At the October 22 committee meeting, members questioned the closure ahead of winter pressures on emergency departments. Welsh said Belfast had ended Phone First to prioritize services it believed would offer more benefit to patients and staff, and that uptake and impact had not been large.
Across Northern Ireland, Phone First received 18,263 calls in September, with 12,098, or 66%, resulting in emergency-department referrals. Committee chair Philip McGuigan said the service may have helped keep more than 6,000 callers out of emergency departments. He secured committee support to write to the department about the service’s future.
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