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All community members of the Daisy Hill Hospital Pathfinder group have resigned, stating their loss of confidence in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Chief Executive as their reason for doing so. If follows on from this past few weeks which has seen up to 9 consultants leave the hospital, the removal of Emergency General Surgery and Stroke services and news that due to lack of staff bed numbers are being reduced by more than 100 from late July.
Announcing the decision Donal Duffin from the group said "It has been clear for some time that the co-production principles, that had under pinned the Pathfinder process for the last six years, have been abandoned by the current post holder. We will continue to support the ongoing fight by the Daisy Hill Futures Group to hold to account those Trust representatives who seem to have forgotten their primary duty includes serving the community of Newry, Mourne and South Armagh."
The community participants feel completely let down and betrayed by the Trust allowing the situation to develop as it has done with the loss of staff and consultants from the hospital and the failure of the Trust to keep them informed of that situation as it was developing.
Jerome Mullen also a member of the Pathfinder Group said "We've had enough. Our position has become untenable and we're not going to continue, to be seen to be used by them any more."
He added "We were very, very hopeful with all the developments that were taking place such as the 9 million that is currently being spent in order to upgrade the electrical supply and other areas of the hospital. The taking over of the Council offices so that space could be freed up on the hospital site for further development. The provision of the of the Elective Surgery Hubb that is to be established which is due to be to be commenced we understand within the next couple of weeks. This is what we are told. I'll wait and see if that in fact does happen."
Mullen continued These were all the positive developments that were taking place but aside from that, we now have a situation where Medicine has been decimated by the loss of, we're told nine consultants who have walked out the door either retired or moved to other other locations.
"That obviously leads Medicine in a state of crisis. And particularly the big ticket item which was the Stroke Unit that is now being moved entirely, they say temporarily - I'll wait to see whether that will be the case. The Stroke Unit was one of the best, well run, well staffed units in Daisy Hill, that is gone."
Mullen added "The question that now arises is how is Craigavon going to cope with the increase. And then there's the issue around beds, the issue of beds reduced to 40 from 140 beds. This has all come out of nowhere, as far as the community representatives on the Pathfinder route are concerned. This just hit us like a tonne of bricks."
The community members are demanding an intervention from the Permanant Health Secretary who they hope to meet next week. Mullen believes that they were the critical link with the community for the Pathfinder group and if it continued without them "they'd just be talking to themselves".
We have asked the Trust for comment and will publish when we receive it.
