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South Down MP Chris Hazzard has requested an opportunity to outline Daisy Hill’s central role in developing sustainable cross-border healthcare in the east-border region with Stephen Donnelly TD, the Minister for Health in Dublin.
Mr Hazzard was speaking following a meeting of the Good Friday Agreement Committee in the Óireachtas in Dublin, where TDs and MPs discussed the growing need to look at healthcare on an all-ireland basis.
He said "In the context of the north and partition, Daisy Hill Hospital is on the periphery. However when looked at in an all-Ireland context, its a central hospital, serving a huge region and a large population, strategically located on our east coast between Belfast and Dublin.
"The greater Newry area is home to approx 120,000 people - and is one of Ireland’s fastest growing urban centres. Significantly, the Daisy Hill can be accessed within 90 minutes by some 3 million people on a cross-border basis.
"Since the Good Friday Agreement, the north-west has provided an inspirational illustration of what can be achieved on a cross-border basis at Altnagalvin Hospital in Derry. The east-border region represents the next step in this collaborative approach to healthcare on an all-island basis.
"Both the Dublin Government and the Executive need to explore and enhance cross-border health cooperation. The immediate need for investment in elective surgical services in the east-border area should include a cross-border service dimension that would help tackle waiting lists.
"We also need to collaborate on things like mutual recognition of standards and qualifications; staffing opportunities; and any future rationalisation of services in the wider area should be viewed only through the lens of the shared all-island agenda.
“I hope that Minister Donnelly will accept my invitation to explore the potential to significantly increase cross-border working in the east-border region; and I have no doubt that given the opportunity, Daisy Hill Hospital will be at the centre of a first-class health and social care offering for communities in South Down, Newry, South Armagh, Louth and Monaghan."
