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Tomorrow's Save Daisy Hill Hospital Rally might just be the most important public rally held in Newry in recent years. The combination of the Southern Trust threatening to remove inpatient Maternity Services from the hospital to Craigavon Hospital coupled with the complete removal of Stroke Services and Emergency General Surgery in the past few years has led to fears that A&E could be next.
The rally is on Sunday 25 October at 2.30pm at Marcus Square, Hill Street, Newry.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council earlier this month unanimously backed a motion calling for inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry to be protected. The notice of motion was brought by The Mournes
Councillor Laura Devlin and Newry City Councillor Killian Feehan. It calls on the Minister for Health, the Department of Health and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to work urgently to support recruitment and retention at the hospital.
The motion recognises the role of inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill and the importance of safe, accessible maternity care for women in Newry, Mourne and Down and the wider region. It expresses concern at staffing pressures threatening the sustainability of the service and states that women should not face unequal access to maternity care because of where they live.
Speaking in support of the motion, Councillor Devlin said the issue was about women, families and fairness.
“This issue is fundamentally about women, families and fairness. For women across our district, Daisy Hill is not simply another hospital service on a map.”
She used Kilkeel as an example of how location can affect access to care. “Think about a woman or family in Kilkeel. Daisy Hill is around half an hour away.
“If inpatient maternity services are not available there, that same woman could be facing a journey of an hour or more to Craigavon.”
Cllr Devlin also spoke about the staff at the hospital. “The people working at Daisy Hill are not the problem. They are part of the solution.
“They have continued to provide an excellent service under enormous pressure.”
Councillor Feehan said he had attended the Save Daisy Hill public meeting in the Canal Court along with Council colleagues.
He criticised the Southern Trust’s approach to recruitment. “The reason we are facing into this service collapse is due to the Southern Trust’s ongoing failure to recruit and retain the specialist staff needed to sustain maternity services.”
Cllr Feehan said the Trust should set out what it has done to recruit consultants.
“The public deserves transparency. How many times were these consultant posts advertised? How many applications were received?”
He added: “Daisy Hill isn’t trying to recruit a hundred consultants; it needs a small number of posts filled.”
The second part of the motion calls on the Department of Health to review and reform the current arrangements for the recruitment, employment and deployment of specialist medical staff across Trusts. It asks for consideration to be given to a region-wide approach that enables staff to be deployed according to need and supports more equitable terms and conditions.
Cllr Feehan added: “The current Trust‑by‑Trust recruitment model is evidently broken.”
He concluded: “Daisy Hill needs urgent support now, and recruitment and workforce management needs long‑term reform to stop this from happening again.”
The Motion
That this Council recognises the vital role of inpatient maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital and the importance of safe, accessible maternity care for women across Newry, Mourne and Down and the wider region; expresses its concern at the staffing pressures threatening the sustainability of the service and believes that women should not face unequal access to maternity care because of where they live; calls on the Minister for Health, Department of Health and Southern Health and Social Care Trust to work urgently to support recruitment and retention at Daisy Hill, protect inpatient maternity services and deliver a safe, sustainable solution that works for women, families and staff.
Council further calls for the Department of Health to review and reform the current arrangements for the recruitment, employment and deployment of specialist medical staff across Trusts, with consideration given to a region-wide approach that enables staff to be deployed according to need and supports more equitable terms and conditions, helping to address persistent recruitment and retention challenges.
