Dalriada staff told of impending redundancies as Trust contracts axed and questions grow over winter ED impact

Friday 09 October 2026

Staff at Dalriada Urgent Care have been made aware of impending redundancies after two Health Trusts gave formal notice that their Phone First contracts will end next month.

A concerned member of staff told Love Ballymena that employees have been made aware of impending redundancies following the decision by the Northern and South Eastern Health Trusts to terminate contracts with effect from the end of November.

Dalriada Urgent Care provides the call handling, clinical triage and signposting behind Phone First, which allows people to telephone ahead before attending an Emergency Department.

The development means workers now face the prospect of losing their jobs just weeks before Christmas and as Northern Ireland’s health service enters the busy winter period.

It also raises a wider question for Emergency Departments: once the telephone triage service ends, could more patients simply present directly at hospital — including some who might previously have been assessed by phone and directed towards another form of care?

Dalriada Urgent Care has confirmed that an HR process involving staff is under way, while stressing that no formal redundancies have yet been made.

Staff member speaks of redundancy fears

A concerned member of Dalriada Urgent Care staff contacted Love Ballymena on Thursday, 8 October, after colleagues were made aware of the impending redundancies.

The employee, who Love Ballymena is not identifying, said:

“The loss of experienced staff at Dalriada Urgent Care is deeply concerning. A number of colleagues face redundancy because of health service cuts, and those job losses will fall in the busy winter period and over Christmas.

“I believe this will affect the local community, who rely on timely access to safe and appropriate healthcare advice.”

For employees facing the possibility of redundancy just weeks before Christmas, the timing has added to the uncertainty.

Experienced staff who have supported patients through busy winter periods are now entering an HR process at the point when seasonal pressures on health services traditionally increase.

Their concerns extend beyond their own jobs and families to what the loss of experienced call handling and clinical triage staff could mean for patients who have relied on Phone First for advice before attending an Emergency Department.

Both Phone First contracts ending in November

Dalriada Urgent Care has now confirmed that both the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust have formally given notice to terminate their Phone First contracts.

A Dalriada Urgent Care spokesperson told Love Ballymena on Friday, 9 October:

“Dalriada Urgent Care have contracts for Phone First services from the NH&SCT and South Eastern Trust. These include call handling and clinical triage.

“The Trusts have now given formal notice that they will terminate these contracts with effect from the end of November.

“We are working through a process with our HR advisors and staff and no formal redundancies have been made to date.

“We cannot say what impact this will have on patients but this could be followed up with the Health Trusts.”

Dalriada has not announced a final number of redundancies and says no formal redundancies have yet been made, but a member of staff has told Love Ballymena that employees have been made aware of impending redundancies.

It is not yet clear how many employees could ultimately lose their jobs.

Northern Trust links decision to £53.8m savings requirement

For the Northern Trust, the decision follows its multi-million-pound savings programme which Love Ballymena has previously examined in detail.

The Trust needs to find £53.8m during 2026/27 and has identified £50m in savings measures, leaving a further £3.8m shortfall still to be addressed.

Phone First was among the measures identified for savings, with £500,000 attached to standing down the service.

The Trust previously told Love Ballymena that Phone First would not cease immediately and that it was working through a “winding-down process” with Dalriada Urgent Care.

Confirmation that formal notice has now been given establishes a clearer timetable: Dalriada’s Northern Trust Phone First contract is due to terminate at the end of November.

Today, a Northern Trust spokesperson told Love Ballymena:

“The Department of Health has instructed all Trusts to reduce their spend by 4% in this current financial year. For the Northern Trust, that equates to £53.8m.

“The decision to stand down our Phone First service, which is operated on behalf of the Trust by Dalriada Urgent Care, has been taken by our Trust Board as part of wider measures to achieve the level of savings required, and to protect core frontline services.

“Phone First has been a valued service, supporting many patients over the years. This decision is not a reflection of the service itself, but of the challenging financial environment in which Health and Social Care is currently operating.

“Equality screenings have been completed, and mitigations have been considered as part of our financial planning and decision-making process. This change will not reduce patients’ access to Urgent and Emergency Care.”

Could more patients go directly to Emergency Departments

Phone First has provided patients with a route to telephone ahead before attending an Emergency Department, with Dalriada’s contracts covering both call handling and clinical triage.

That triage function is significant because patients can be assessed before arriving at hospital and advised on an appropriate route for their care.

Once Phone First ends, one of the key questions is whether more people will instead present directly at Emergency Departments — including patients who might previously have been assessed by telephone and directed towards another service or pathway.

That is not an established consequence of ending Phone First, and neither the number nor behaviour of future patients can be assumed.

But the issue could be particularly important for Antrim Area and Causeway hospitals because the service is ending as the health system enters the winter period, when Emergency Departments can face increased pressure.

Love Ballymena previously asked the Northern Trust whether it had assessed the potential for ending Phone First to increase attendances at Antrim Area and Causeway Emergency Departments. The Trust did not provide that assessment.

The Trust has said ending Phone First “will not reduce patients’ access to Urgent and Emergency Care”.

But access to care and demand on Emergency Departments are separate issues. The question is whether removing a telephone triage route could change how patients access that care — and whether some who might previously have been directed elsewhere will instead arrive at hospital.

That question takes on added significance because the Northern Trust’s wider savings programme also includes a £606,000 reduction in additional winter-related capacity, equivalent to approximately 23% of its winter planning funding.

The Trust has previously said that reduction will be partly mitigated by £2m of recurrent Strategic Planning and Performance Group investment focused on ambulance handovers.

However, Love Ballymena has sought detailed figures on what the reduction will mean for additional winter beds, staffing, shifts, weekend working and discharge support at Antrim Area and Causeway hospitals. Those figures have not been provided.

The effect of removing Phone First on Emergency Department demand will therefore be an important measure of the decision’s impact as the winter progresses.

South Eastern Trust service also affected

Dalriada’s confirmation establishes that the change extends beyond the Northern Trust.

The South Eastern Trust has also formally given notice to terminate its Phone First contract with Dalriada Urgent Care at the end of November.

Both contracts cover call handling and clinical triage, according to Dalriada.

From a £500,000 saving to a human consequence

When the Northern Trust’s £50m savings programme was examined on paper, standing down Phone First appeared as one £500,000 measure within a much larger financial plan.

The consequences are now moving beyond figures on a balance sheet.

The Northern Trust is ending a service it describes as “valued”. Both Trust contracts with Dalriada Urgent Care are due to terminate at the end of November. And employees have been made aware of impending redundancies as Christmas approaches.

No formal redundancies have yet been made and the eventual number of jobs affected remains unknown.

But the consequences now extend beyond the staff facing uncertainty over their livelihoods. As winter approaches, the loss of a telephone triage route also leaves an important question for the health service to answer: will more patients now arrive directly at Emergency Departments who might previously have been assessed over the phone and directed towards more appropriate care?