Northern Trust tells patients to keep using Phone First as closure plans paused

Monday 09 November 2026

Patients should continue using Phone First following a pause in plans to withdraw the Northern Trust service after 27 November, the Trust has confirmed to Love Ballymena.

The pause was first disclosed by interim chief executive Suzanne Pullins at the Assembly Health Committee on Thursday 5 November, where MLAs challenged whether withdrawing telephone advice before winter would increase pressure on emergency departments.

In a fresh statement today, the Trust confirmed to Love Ballymena that discussions with its provider, Dalriada Urgent Care, are ongoing to ensure continuity of service. It has not announced an agreed extension period or permanent funding arrangement.

Phone First remains available to patients

The Trust says anyone considering attending the emergency department at Antrim Area Hospital or Causeway Hospital, or the Minor Injuries Unit at Mid Ulster Hospital, with an urgent issue — excluding serious illness or injury — should continue using Phone First.

• Telephone: 0300 123 1 123.

• Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

• The service does not operate on bank holidays.

The telephone service assesses patients’ needs and helps direct them to appropriate care.

Trust confirms instruction to pause withdrawal

A Northern Trust spokesperson told Love Ballymena:

“On 5 November 2026, the Trust was advised by SPPG (Strategic Planning and Performance Group) to pause the standing down of the Phone First service within the Northern Trust and discussions are now ongoing with our provider to ensure continuity of service.”

Today’s statement follows Ms Pullins’ disclosure to the Health Committee that the Trust had received the instruction that day.

“However, I have been advised today that the trust should pause the formal withdrawal to allow for reassessment,” she told members.

The Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) is part of Northern Ireland’s Department of Health. It plans and commissions health and social care services — deciding what services are needed and arranging their provision — and monitors the performance and financial plans of health trusts. Its role includes ensuring available resources are used effectively, while trusts are responsible for delivering services to patients.

Ms Pullins described the intervention as coming “quite late in this pathway” and said the Trust needed to work with Dalriada Urgent Care on what could now be done and how the reassessment would proceed.

Committee challenged costs and winter impact

The committee heard from Ms Pullins alongside director of operations Gillian Traub, director of finance Stevie Lennon, and director of surgery, women’s health and diagnostic services Lynne McCartney.

Members questioned whether the anticipated £500,000 saving from withdrawing Phone First could be outweighed by additional emergency department demand. One member described the proposal as “a false economy”, arguing that costs could increase elsewhere in the system.

Those concerns were raised during a briefing in which the Trust reported that 58 people were awaiting a bed in Antrim’s emergency department that morning. Across Antrim and Causeway hospitals, 159 patients medically fit for discharge remained in acute beds while awaiting onward care arrangements.

Trust leaders defended the original withdrawal proposal as a difficult financial decision intended to protect core frontline services. Ms Pullins said it did not reflect a negative assessment of Phone First itself.

Directing patients to the right care

Members highlighted Phone First’s role in helping people avoid an emergency department when another service could meet their needs. Trust officials said alternatives included minor injuries provision and same-day assessment pathways for respiratory, cardiology and frailty patients.

Ms Traub explained that some callers directed away from emergency departments still attended a Trust minor injuries service. The distinction was important to the discussion: avoiding an emergency department did not necessarily mean avoiding all Trust care.

Ms Pullins acknowledged the difficulty patients and families can face when deciding where to seek help.

“It’s just simply that sometimes you go to where you know you’re going to get someone to speak to.”

Funding and staff arrangements still to be confirmed

The proposed closure formed part of a programme requiring the Northern Trust to deliver £53.8 million in savings this financial year. Officials told the committee that approved plans left a shortfall of approximately £1.6 million.

Mr Lennon acknowledged that if the Phone First saving did not materialise after reassessment, that gap would increase.

Love Ballymena’s earlier coverage examined uncertainty facing Dalriada staff and the Northern Trust’s planned November withdrawal.

Today’s statement does not specify how continued provision would be funded, how long any extension would last or what the pause means for affected staff and associated HR processes.

Further updates promised

The spokesperson for Northern Trust said:

“We will ensure that patients and stakeholders are kept informed of any developments relating to Phone First, and further updates will be provided as soon as possible.”

The Phone First pause exposes the difficult reality of finding £53.8 million in savings from a health system already struggling to meet demand.

On the morning of the committee briefing, 58 people were waiting for a bed in Antrim’s emergency department while 159 patients across Antrim and Causeway hospitals were ready for discharge but awaiting onward care.

Against that backdrop, withdrawing a service that helps patients find appropriate treatment raises a fundamental question: whether cutting spending in one part of the system will deepen pressure in another.

Patients and staff now face uncertainty over Phone First’s future, while the financial demands that prompted its planned closure remain.