South West Acute Hospital: SWAH announcement 'devastating'

Carmel Tracey says people in Enniskillen and the surrounding area "deserve better"

The temporary withdrawal of emergency general surgery from South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) is "shocking" and "devastating", locals have said.

The Western Health and Social Care Trust has not said when it expects emergency general surgery to resume.

Its chief executive officer, Neil Guckian, said that "patients will be safer with these changes".

But some people in County Fermanagh did not seem convinced about Thursday's announcement.

"The trust don't understand what it's like to have a rural hospital - travel is not acceptable," Dermot Browne told BBC News NI.

"We fought hard to get this hospital here in the first place."

Mr Browne added that "the direction of travel has been concerning for people here".

"If there is an issue with staff that needs to be resolved with services reinstated as soon as possible."

Dermot Browne says "the direction of travel" is concerning

Despite saying the move was temporary, the trust did not say when it expected emergency general surgery would resume.

The emergency department and other services including obstetrics will continue to operate as normal.

Other - mostly lower grade - surgeons will remain on site at the County Fermanagh hospital.

The trust said this was necessary to protect the public's safety after it had problems recruiting surgical staff.

Protesters gathered outside the town hall in objection to the announcement.

• 'Fermanagh will suffer' without emergency surgery

• Staff shortage 'makes Enniskillen surgery fragile'

• Emergency general surgery withdrawn from SWAH

Representatives from the trust held a meeting with local community and council representatives in Enniskillen Town Hall on Thursday evening.

At it, Mr Guckian said that regardless of what had been reported in the media, he was "proud of the engagement between the trust and the council".

He said the trust was dealing with a very difficult situation in regard to emergency surgery and was "working our way through this".

He paid tribute to all surgeons at SWAH for maintaining services over the years in challenging circumstances.

'Terrible' communication

However, Reggie Ferguson, chairman from Save Our Acute Services (SOAS), told the meeting it was his organisation's belief that the trust had been deliberately running down services in preparation for the announcement.

"This has been on the cards for a long time," he said.

"Your communication is terrible, everything seems to be behind the scenes."

Referring to the region's poor infrastructure in the context of proposals to transport some patients to other hospitals, Mr Ferguson added: "The road to Altnagelvin would make you sick if you weren't sick already."

UUP councillor Diane Armstrong said it was "a dark day that affects everybody, man, woman and child".

Ms Armstrong said the people of Fermanagh and south Tyrone "feel marginalised by this decision", and she was personally "absolutely disgusted".

No one likes change - especially if it affects your local health service.

But according to Raphael Bengoa - and several other health experts who've penned health reviews - change is necessary if Northern Ireland's health system is to be sustainable.

People in Enniskillen say they are the latest "casualties" in plans to change how services are delivered across the region.

The Western Trust argues that change is necessary as the service is no longer safe.

Whatever the argument, local people say it feels like this is being thrust on them as a last resort.

They tell me what should have taken place was much needed dialogue, explanation and local people being properly informed about how the proposed changes will affect them.

Instead, they say, a vacuum was created which encouraged rumour and misinformation that SWAH was set to remove all its emergency services.

While making any sort of change to the Northern Ireland health and social care system can be politicised and emotive - not having those conversations in advance can often be even more problematic.

Diane McCaffery says that the decision is "catastrophic"

Diane McCaffery, who attended with her husband Eunan, is a retired emergency care manager from the cardio assessment unit at SWAH.

She said she had seen first hand how emergency surgery saved lives and thought this decision to reduce surgical services was "catastrophic".

Carmel Tracey and her daughter Emily said they "know the implications" of the announcement.

"Having to be transferred could put your life at risk. We deserve better," said added Ms Tracey.

'Vague assurances'

Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew challenged the trust to set out clearly their plan for the restoration of emergency surgical services.

"The people of Fermanagh (and South Tyrone) need clarity from the trust on the steps they have taken to date, but most importantly, the actions they will now take, to ensure emergency surgical services at SWAH are urgently restored. 

"Vague assurances will not do."

Earlier in the day, DUP MLA Deborah Erskine said she understood the concerns of constituents but felt there was good news for the hospital's future with the announcement that it is to become a new centre for planned surgery.

"The pressures with surgeons date back to 2018 in the Western Trust," she said.

"We need to have a system, we need to have a way forward in which we ensure services are safe for both the workplace in the SWAH and also for our patients."