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Representatives of the SOS Daisy Hill committee have said they believe progress can be made if proposals presented to them at a meeting at Stormont yesterday, 12 June by the Department of Health and Southern Trust are implemented in full. The meeting was called for the committee to show their opposition to the proposed cuts to medical services at Daisy Hill Hospital. Representatives included Peter May, Permanent Secretary for Health and Dr Maria O Kane, Chief Executive Southern Health & Social Care Trust while SOS Daisy Hill included Francis Gallagher, Eddy Curtis and Aine Mc Kevitt.
Francis Gallagher Chairman of SOS Daisy Hill said "The Trust and SHSSB officials representatives listened to the contributions from our team regarding the Newry, South Armagh and South Down communities total opposition and anger at the proposals being put forward by the Trust. We also stated the opposition we were hearing from from Trust staff about the lack of clarity and transparency on the proposed changes and the negative impact it was having on their mental health, families etc. Mr Peter May and Dr Maris O Kane outlined their proposals which they explained were significantly reduced from their earlier recommendations and had reduced the negative impact on both medical services and hospital staff. I thanked the Dept and Trust officials for meeting us and giving us much needed information and that we await information on their final set of proposals before commenting on same.
Promises have been made in the past
Eddy Curtis said the group will await recommendations. Curtis stated, “We welcomed the opportunity to meet with Dept of Health and Trust Senior Management and we believe progress can be made if the proposals presented today are implemented in full but we have to await a copy of their final recommendations before we can satisfy ourselves. Promises have been made in the past which were not honoured, so without action we will be continuing with our Save Daisy Hill Hospital Action Plan until we are totally satisfied. Our Public Rally on Sunday 25th June 2023 at 2pm in Marcus Square will go ahead as planned and other proposed actions will take continue to be implemented. “
Ambulance services
Aine Mc Kevitt said, “ I raised the matter of lack of Ambulance Services at Daisy Hill and the totally unacceptable delays which had caused unnecessary deaths in our community. I reinforced the need for a professional Ambulance Service delivered at international standards for our community in the future”
Keep the pressure on
Speaking after he and members of the public demonstrated outside the Department of Health's HQ at Stormont, Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty applauded the community’s defiance in defence of the Hospital.
Mr. McNulty said “Today was a proud show of defiance at the Department of Health HQ. While our SOS Daisy Hill Campaign Team were inside pushing back against proposals to strip services from our hospital, they had the backing of local people who showed up in numbers to make their voices heard outside.
“The Department know we are not going quietly into the night and while they have given us some positive indicators that they are backtracking because of public pressure, we need to keep the pressure on - it is working.
“This is why it’s so important that Sinn Fein step up to the plate. They’ve nominated a First Minister Designate. I’m asking them to nominate a Health Minister Designate who will immediately commit to restoring all vital services at our city’s hospital.”
