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With the removal of emergency surgery from Daisy Hill Hospital at the end of February being attributed in part to the lack of surgeons available, Newry and Armagh MLA, Justin McNulty is calling out the Department of Health and the Southern Trust for what he calls their ‘disgraceful neglect’ of Daisy Hill Hospital.
During question time at Stormont the MLA in reply to a question to Health Minister Robin Swann was told that all general surgeons "may be required to work at any current or new site within the Trust"
Mr. McNulty tabled a number of questions to the Health Minister in relation to emergency general surgery across the Southern Trust.
The Newry & Armagh MLA commented “For months now, I have been campaigning against the withdrawal of emergency general surgery at Daisy Hill. The Trust and the Health Minister have both greeted my efforts with hostility, saying that because of critical shortages in surgical staffing, what I am campaigning for is reckless and somehow dangerous.
“Emergency surgery was withdrawn from Daisy Hill because just one of six surgical posts were filled, yet Craigavon’s surgical roster is almost full. The Trust said they could not continue to provide a safe service with just 1 surgeon at Daisy Hill. That would be a reasonable point, if it wasn’t completely misleading.
“I asked the Health Minister how many general surgeons in the Southern Trust area are employed on single-site contracts and how many are employed across the Trust and free to move between hospitals. In his response, the Health Minister said, ‘no general surgeons at either the Daisy Hill Hospital site or the Craigavon Area Hospital site are employed on single-site contracts. All contracts are with the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and therefore the consultants may be required to work at any current or new site within the Trust.’
“If all emergency general surgeons in the Southern Trust can be required to work at either of the two hospital sites, why has the Southern Trust made the decision to let services collapse at Daisy Hill, rather than share consultants with Craigavon?
“We know that 4 consultant general surgeons were moved from Daisy Hill to Craigavon in the last 10 years. The Department of Health and the Trust need to wake up and realise that the road between Newry & Craigavon runs both ways.
“People in Newry, South Armagh, and south Down have a right to know why we are once again being treated a world apart – the last to get and the first to lose. We pay exactly the same money through tax and national insurance into the system as everyone else – we have an absolute right to expect equal access to healthcare.
“The Department of Health and the Trust are free to cook up whatever excuses or justifications they like. This is about equality in health care and we won’t be backing down.”
