Daisy Hill hospital in Newry to permanently lose emergency general surgery

Emergency general surgery will be permanently moved from Daisy Hill Hospital to Craigavon, the Department of Health has confirmed.

The surgery service was temporarily withdrawn from Daisy Hill in Newry at the end of February 2022.

In September 2023, the Southern Health Trust had recommended it was moved permanently to Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh.

The initial move was made due to surgeon recruitment challenges.

The Southern Health Trust previously said the relocation was an interim measure.

At the time, only two out of six general surgical consultant posts at the hospital had been filled, despite repeated recruitment processes.

General surgery is performed by highly skilled surgeons who typically operate on common abdominal complaints including elective gall bladder surgery, hernia repairs and bowel repairs.

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The Southern Health Trust's recommendation to permanently move emergency general surgery to Craigavon came after a report on a 12-week public consultation on the future of the service in the area.

The trust's medical director Dr Stephen Austin said, having trialled the approach for 18 months, delivering surgery from Craigavon was "the only way we can maintain a safe and effective service".

However the decision has faced fierce opposition from communities in south Down and south Armagh.

An average of three patients a day have been directed to Craigavon from Daisy Hill for emergency general surgery services, the Department of Health said.

"The department has concluded that the temporary arrangements demonstrated the merits of consolidation on a single site. It provided stability in clinical staffing, meaning safe services can be sustained in the longer term," a spokesperson added.

The department's permanent secretary Peter May said the move "reflects the reality that all hospitals cannot provide all services".

"There has to be a level of consolidation and specialisation in light of advances in medicine," he said.

"Daisy Hill Hospital will continue to provide a vital service to the local community, across a range of key specialities."

Mr May said the struggle to recruit and retain consultant general surgeons at Daisy Hill was due to clinical factors, rather than a lack of effort.

Emergency general surgery has also been temporarily withdrawn from the South West Acute Hospital (Swah) in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.