The trust reported ‘significant issues' with IT systems yesterday which led to the cancellation of most planned surgeries and out-patient hospital appointments.

Community services were expected to return to normal service today.

An ambulance divert has been stood down at Daisy Hill Hospital, however, a divert at Craigavon Area Hospital remained in place last night.

A trust spokesperson said: ‘It will take some time for normal business to be fully restored and we sincerely apologise once again for the disruption.

‘We ask that people avoid coming to our Emergency Departments unless absolutely necessary as we continue to prioritise critical care at this time.

‘The cause of the outage is still being investigated, however, there is nothing to indicate any cyber related issues.'