Write a comment
The SOS Daisy Hill Committee has condemned the Southern Trust's announcement that maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry may be temporarily suspended within the next six to eight weeks. The Committee said the move represented another major blow for the area following the recent removal of emergency surgery from the hospital, and it is now demanding immediate political intervention from the Minister of Health and elected representatives.
If the suspension happens it means that people could no longer say they were born in Newry.
The Trust's own published information has previously recorded almost 1,900 births in a year at Daisy Hill, which the Committee said demonstrated the scale and importance of the service to local families. According to the Trust's maternity information, services are currently provided at both Daisy Hill and Craigavon Area Hospital, with Daisy Hill offering a midwifery-led service and a delivery suite.
The Committee said it was particularly concerned about the capacity and safety implications of transferring this volume of maternity activity to Craigavon, and questioned what evidence existed to show that Craigavon could safely absorb the additional births, antenatal activity, postnatal care and emergency presentations currently dealt with at Daisy Hill.
It is calling on the Trust to publish the full evidence-based data, capacity assessments, staffing information, risk assessments and clinical evidence behind the decision, and said the community should not be presented with a decision without being shown how the proposed arrangements would maintain safe and accessible maternity care. The Committee added that it was deeply concerned the proposed suspension came at a time when the future of other essential services at Daisy Hill was already under pressure.
Committee member Eddy Curtis described the announcement as "another devastating blow for the people of Newry and the wider district. We have already seen emergency surgery removed from Daisy Hill and now we are being told that maternity services are to be suspended." He said thousands of families in the region depended on Daisy Hill, adding "this is not simply about a hospital building, it is about access to safe healthcare close to home and the ability of mothers and families to receive maternity care in their own community." Curtis said the Trust must provide the actual figures demonstrating how Craigavon could safely accommodate the additional workload, along with staffing arrangements, capacity assessments, risk assessments and clinical evidence, and said decisions of this magnitude could not be made behind closed doors and presented to the community as a fait accompli.
Committee Chairman Francis Gallagher said the people of Newry, Mourne and the wider district had had enough, describing Daisy Hill as a vital regional hospital and maternity services as one of the core services local families rightly expected to have available locally. "We cannot accept assurances without evidence," he said, adding that if the Trust believed the temporary transfer was safe and that Craigavon had the capacity to absorb the additional workload, then the evidence supporting that position had to be placed in the public domain. Gallagher said the Committee would be seeking immediate meetings with the Minister for Health, political representatives and the Southern Trust, and called on every elected representative, regardless of political party, to stand up for the people of the region. He confirmed a public meeting would also be arranged to give residents the opportunity to express their concerns and demand answers over the future of Daisy Hill Hospital.
The Committee said the public must have the chance to hear directly what is being proposed, what evidence supports the decision and what safeguards will be put in place for mothers and babies. Its demands include immediate political intervention by the Minister for Health and elected representatives, publication of the evidence-based data supporting the proposed suspension, a full capacity assessment of Craigavon Area Hospital, details of staffing levels and clinical cover there, and publication of the relevant clinical risk assessments and contingency plans. The Committee is also seeking a clear explanation of the proposed timeframe and the criteria that will determine when maternity services at Daisy Hill will reopen, meaningful engagement with local mothers, families, staff and clinicians before any further decisions are taken, and a clear commitment that the temporary suspension will not become a permanent reduction or closure of services.
Following the removal of emergency surgery, the Committee said it was determined the community would not simply stand by while another major service was removed from Daisy Hill, and called for political leadership, transparency and evidence.
