Daisy Hill: Public meeting held over emergency surgery removal
- Published
Hundreds of people have attended a public meeting on the planned removal of emergency general surgery at Newry's Daisy Hill Hospital.
The service is to be permanently moved to Craigavon Area Hospital under proposals by the Southern Health Trust.
The service was moved from Daisy Hill in February 2022, in what the trust previously said was an interim measure.
The trust said the move was due to ongoing recruitment challenges.
However the decision has faced fierce opposition from communities in south Down and south Armagh.
Representatives of the trust's senior management and surgical teams addressed the meeting on Wednesday night.
The proposal to permanently move emergency general surgery is out for public consultation until 21 April.
The trust's chief executive, Maria O'Kane, has said it is important for the people of Newry and Mourne that "their surgical outcomes are not compromised by outdated models of care".
Emergency general surgery was moved from Daisy Hill in February 2022
Francis Gallagher, who attended the meeting on Wednesday, said many people feel their local hospital is at risk of being "severely downgraded" with the removal of emergency general surgery.
"It's not up for negotiation and we will not accept it being downgraded in any way whatsoever," she said.
Jessica Keenan said previous generations of her family have fought to preserve services at Daisy Hill Hospital and she will continue to do so as well.
"Back in the 70s they were trying to move services and my grandfather fought, my mother fought to keep them here and I'm fighting," Ms Keenan said.
"That's three generations - they're still trying to deprive the people of Newry of the services that we've got."
Jessica Keenan says three generations of her family have fought to preserve services at the hospital over the years
Dr Donal Duffin, a member of the Daisy Hill Futures group, said he supports the changes.
"We have huge waiting lists that we have to deal with, so we have split emergency surgery from elective non-emergency surgery and that's what this is all about," he said, adding that it would "concentrate expertise at the Daisy Hill site".
SDLP assembly member Justin McNulty said it was vital that the concerns of ordinary people were heard and acted upon at the meeting.
"The decision to withdraw emergency general surgery from our hospital was met with public outcry," Mr McNulty said.
"It is crucial that the future of Daisy Hill Hospital is safeguarded," he added.
Mr McNulty said the meeting with trust representatives was a "golden opportunity for people to lay out their hopes and their anxieties in relation to the future of Daisy Hill".
Niamh McArdle said she required emergency surgery and had to be taken by ambulance to Craigavon Area Hospital.
"It wasn't the best experience and it added to the trauma of my situation," she said.
Niamh McArdle required emergency general surgery in Craigavon and says the travel distance "added to the trauma of my situation"
"Some people often comment that it's only 20 minutes down the road, well it's not and it's the longest windiest road ever.
"So really, honestly, it's not just as simple as it's just the road down to Craigavon - it's really a huge issue especially if you're as ill as I was at the time."
'Doing more surgery than ever'
In a statement, the trust said the "recruitment and retention of general surgical consultants has been an ongoing challenge across Northern Ireland".
Dr O'Kane, the trust's chief executive, said there would be no change to the emergency department, which will continue to assess patients with both medical and surgical symptoms, and plans to turn the hospital into an elective overnight stay centre were progressing.
She added that the hospital already has "a very wide range of vibrant acute medical specialties" and also said they are "already doing more surgery than ever at the hospital".
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