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Just how many thousand people walked through Newry yesterday on the SOS Daisy Hill march in support of Daisy Hill Hospital is hard to call but we can say the attendance stretched all the way from Hill Street, the entire length of Monaghan Street and then some. It certainly was spectacularly larger than a previous rally back in April. The fact that it was for the main a bright, warm sunny day was certainly a bonus for the participants.
People travelled from as far away as the Causeway Coast Hospital in Antrim to support the hospital and to demand that services are kept there. A rally started of the event at 2pm outside Newry Cathedral wiith local radio personality Kevin McAllister introducing the seven speakers.
Speaking on the day were Cllr Valerie Harte, Chairperson, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council; Donal Duffin, former Consultant at Daisy Hill; Dr. Tayo, Newry GP; Francis Gallagher, Chairperson SOS Daisy Hill; Tanya Killen, President, NIPSA; Deborah Yapicioz, Unison and Eddie Curtis, SOS Daisy Hill.
Unites every single one of us
Cllr Valerie Harte, Chairperson, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council opened the formalities of the day. Cllr Harte said "Daisy Hill means so much more to us than any of us can actually put into words. Every day our hospital, and the staff in it work tirelessly to provide absolutely vital healthcare services to families across Newry, Mourne and Down and further afield. But it is so much more than that too. It's something that unites every single one of us here today. Our hospital is where we come together with joy to welcome new life, and with sadness as we say goodbye to a part of our family. The deep personal connection and a recognition of the real obvious importance of our hospital is why we have all come out here today to stand side by side in support of Daisy Hill and to send a clear message that we will not accept any threats to the future of our hospital."
Cllr Harte said the crisis that faces Daisy Hill is born out of total mismanagement, mismanagement that allowed a dangerous number of consultants to leave to other posts without a workable plan. "Many were motivated by a concern that they couldn't safely treat patients, and by the absence of a long term plan or vision for Daisy Hill's future. This crisis came unfortunately, on the back of a number of positive developments for Daisy Hill, the purchase of Monaghan Row to expand the site. The electrical upgrade and the Elective Surgical Hub to help tackle our growing waiting lists, were all hard won victories for Daisy Hill and this community." she added.
Cllr Harte continued "We've seen this week the announcement of plans to stabilise the services at the hospital. These are an improvement on the original proposals that were presented to our community. However, while this is a step in the right direction, there is still much work to be done and a chairde we must remain vigilant. Stabilising the safe dellivery of services for the people of this district should be the first step in a workable plan for the future of our hospital. The Trust must now demonstrates their commitment to securing the long term future of Daisy Hill in real actions and not just words. They must get to work immediately, on not only stabilising our services, but delivering a long term plan for the future of Daisy Hill and taking all necessary actions to deliver it."
The Chairperson explained that our hospital and our hospital services did not fall into crisis overnight. "For over 12 years we have been victim to swings of the Tory axe to our NHS and public services in general. The Tories have cut funding for vital services, refused to pay a fair wage to doctors and nurses and then threatened to cut places for student nurses here.
"For over a decade we have had our services strangled by these relentless cuts leaving our ability to deliver top class healthcare reduced and our staff demoralised. The scale of challenge that faces us here locally and all across the north to support the health services is grave, but it is a challenge we must face together. Whether it's a threat to our services here, or refusal to pay our healthcare staff a fair wage, the people of Newry will be alert to stand by our hospital and community to make it clear that we will not accept this." Said Cllr Harte.
Concluding Cllr Harte said "Let that message be heard loud and clear from this rally today, that all of us here from Newry, south Armagh or south Down stand united in making it clear that we will never stop working to protect Daisy Hill and we will make sure it gets the support it deserves to grow into the first class hospital we all know it to be."
Emergency Department is second to none
Former Consultant at Daisy Hill Hospital, Donal Duffin was next to speak and spoke of deja vu. "Six years ago I remember saying in the Canal Court, I'm not going away yet and I'm not going away yet again. Six years ago the emergency department was threatened with closure within a week. The community came together, the Pathfinder group was set up under Dr. Telford and it was stopped. The emergency department is now a 24/7 Type One, 365 days a year emergency department, second to none in this province. It will remain so because it is the safety net for this community and it is sacrosanct."
Mr Duffin continued "But we're in trouble again and we got into trouble very quickly. A month ago I thought we were on the edge of a precipice. We aren't anymore. We met with the Department, the Trust and all the local representatives and we have a plan going forward. It is not a solution. It is a short term plan to get us through the next couple of months. Then it will have to be revised to get us through the winter. And then we already have a 5 or 10 year plan for the future of Daisy Hill.
"The Pathfinder Group when it was involved in sorting out ED, setting up an MAU, improving staff training and supporting Daisy Hill was present for the last five years. But about 18 months ago something changed in the Trust and the co-production model that they had, they binned. So the Pathfinder group changed as well. We morphed into the Future Group. You'd have heard the name, many don't know what it is. The Pathfinder Group was community reps only. The Future Group is same community reps plus political representatives from every single party except one. It is business leaders. It is representatives of the Bengoa panel who set out the future of healthcare in Northern Ireland. It is financial experts and it is politicians from south of the border as well as this area, and we have been working for the last 18 months on a future for Daisy Hill. A long term district general hospital, fully staffed, fully funded because that's what's needed, and that's what we're going to insist on."
Mr Duffin explained that following the Trust and Department of Health's acceptance of the groups eight point plan things had looked positive with money nvested, Monaghan Row transferred, planned electricity system upgrade and a new MRI scanner which is arriving in July. "That was all going forward and then it all came tumbling down round our heads and the reason it came tumbling down round our head was because of failure across management to listen to their staff. Staff that got us all through COVID but were exhausted, burnt out, overworked, under resourced, and they said you have to help us or we're going - and they didn't get the help so they went. And that's what happened. So we now have to come up with this emergency plan to get us through the next couple of months in terms of staffing and support. And if that works we then move on to the next one to extend it through the winter. And if that works, we have the long term plan in place."
Mr Duffin concluded by telling the assembled crowd not to give up on Daisy Hill and support it vocally but warned people to tone down social media "I'm fed up with bad mouthing coming from people who don't know what's going on. It's not acceptable and staff get caught in the crossfire." he said.
Bleak Picture
Newry GP Dr. Tayo spoke about his concerns "There is very little communication between Trust and the GP's. Everyone has their frustrations with access to health, particularly primary care and getting appointments with GP's. The current situation of not having acute services at Daisy Hill is going to impact on that more. This is a very bleak picture and I welcome the provision of the three consultants to stabilise services for Summer. The problem as highlighted though is that we are coming into winter. We already have waits of 30 plus people on trolleys between Daisy Hill and Craigavon sites. And that's not because of A&E, A&E is functioning.. It's because the acute services can't create a flow to move those people from A&E out of those trolleys to the beds and that's because we've had this crisis. This could be prevented If the Southern trust were engaged with the community, with the doctors, their own staff, with the federation. We could actually come up with a plan that would prevent people presenting to A&E in the first place. That's what primary care is for."
Dr Tayo continued "If we don't have acute services at A&E, though hopefully we will, then you can't have trainees at Daisy Hill. If you don't have trainees at Daisy Hill how are you going to get the next generation of doctors through. If you don't have the acute services, where is A&E going to move the flow of patients to.
"They spoke of having people need transported from Daisy Hill to Craigavon. Craigavon can't cope with what it's got so how's it going to do that? There's no additional buildings, there's no additional staff at Craigavon so how are they going to do that. There's no plan I've seen for that. I've spoken to hospital colleagues, they're not quite sure either. There's also the problem of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. it is at capacity. It cannot take people currently so how are you then going to move people from Daisy Hill to Craigavon, where they're going not going to be able to offload their patients safely to A&E so they have to wait. If you then have an ambulance crew in Craigavon then being called to Kilkeel, how are they going to do that. That hasn't been answered. Apparently there's going to be private ambulances."
Dr Tayo believes we are just going from one crisis to another. "Let's have a plan, let's work together, primary care, secondary care. We need Daisy Hill, the want is for it there, the staff want to do it as well. They just need the support, they need the extra resources." he added.
Different scenario for stroke patients with access to car than those without
Francis Gallagher, Chairperson SOS Daisy Hill thanked everyone for turning up and welcomed supporters from Causeway Hospital. He said "We want to show our solidarity to our colleagues in the Causeway, but not just there, to Downpatrick as well because they want to keep their Hospital a full acute hospital and of course last but not least, our colleagues in Fermanagh in SWA, we want to help and coordinate with them as well."
Gallagher asked "How have we arrived at this situation, at this crisis that we are now in today? That is a question that many many people are asking themselves. Over a period of 12 months, nine doctors had to walk away from Daisy Hill, some could argue because they weren't getting the right support. Now our emergency general surgery was taken away, which could be argued had a knock on effect on the other departments. After those doctors walked away our hospital went into meltdown and it's only been stabilised to a certain extent, which we are not happy with because we now have a ridiculous situation. God forbid if someone takes a stroke and if they don't have a car and if they're lucky enough to get an ambulance they have to go and divert to Craigavon, but someone who has a car and can get to Daisy Hill will get their immediate treatment at Daisy Hill. Now that is not a good situation, that's an unjust situation and we need to address that as soon as we can."
Gallagher concluded "One of the causes of this is the lack of accountability in our Department of Health. So what I am saying and I am asking all our senior politicians is when they go back to Stormont, we want you to make sure that the Department of Health is accountable to the people in this area. There are millions spent on the Commissioning Board on the Public Health Agency. Lets have that money put into our frontline services. Last but not least I just want to say in finishing please give our staff at Daisy Hill more say and more control over their hospital."
Proper planning and investment needed
Tanya Killen, President, NIPSA said "I applaud each and every one of you who have taken to the streets today to show your disgust at the retrograde decision of the Southern Trust to withdraw vital and critical services from Daisy Hill Hospital. I congratulate SOS Daisy Hill for their ardous campaigning against the cuts, and for co-ordinating and arranging this rally today. Comrades today is a significant event, today the people of Newry and Mourne has taken a stand and are sending a loud clear message of defiance to the Southern Trust, and to the politician that you are not prepared to idyly stand by and accept or allow cuts to your services
"You will not be treated as second class citizen. Daisy Hill is simply the latest that is subject to the current ongoing slaught of cuts across the health sector. The threat to Daisy Hill services represents accumulation of many years of Stormont policy. For years every strategic policy and blueprint has reiterated the closure of rural acute hospital services. Decisions have been driven by the privatisation agenda that has undermined rural health care provision. The denigration of services has been taken by the Southern Trust with indecent haste, with limited consultation, with no consideration for the consequences or the impact on the people of Newry and Mourne, and to be clear these actions, they will put lives at risk, they will threaten the future of other services. They will increase the pressure on other hospitals. They will threaten jobs and they will further exacerbate the safe staffing crisis in the health service. We say shame on the Southern Trust."
Killen added "Colleagues the anger that we feel here today at the destruction of our health services needs to be chanelled into organised cross community resistance based on the power of the working class. We must continue to revolt against the hostile political choices of the Southern Trust closure of our hospital services. We need to organize our collective power and unite in our common struggle and we need to support the staff and the workers in Daisy Hill, they are the backbone of the NHS.
"Two final comments. Aneurin Bevan, the founder off the NHS said it will last for as long as folk have the will to fight for it. Well today you have shown that you're up for the fight.
My final message to the Southern Trust is watch us with fear. ignore us at your peril. Stand strong, stand together."
Solidarity
Deborah Yapicioz from Unison said they will stand with the people of Newry "It's great to see such a great turnout today, but it is nothing less than I would expect from the people of Newry who will never stand still and let their hospital, which has served them well be downgraded. Unison reps and other colleagues have been working hard to ensure that the services in Daisy Hill will remain, and not be downgraded. I work for the NHS, I'm a staff member with the NHS and I can tell you that the staff of Daisy Hill, the patients of Daisy Hill, Unison and the people of Newry and Mourne stand united today in solidarity. We applaud you in the courage you have shown to protect Daisy Hill and we promise you, we will stand with you until there is no more threat."
Yapicioz concluded "Daisy Hill must and will remain an acute hospital, saving the lives of Newry people for many generations to come. The people of Newry and Mourne will not be treated as second class citizens, not on our watch. I would just like to congratulate SOS Daisy Hill and the Future Group in their continued fight and we will stand with you until the bitter end and we will succeed in our endeavors to keep Daisy Hill on acute hospital, serving this area and the people of South Armagh."
Eddie Curtis from SOS Daisy Hill was the last to speak. Curtis said "This is by no shadow of a doubt the largest rally that I have ever attended in this city. I would like to particularly also welcome and thank the people from south Down, south Armagh, Louth, Monaghan and Cavan, they have come from all over to support us today. We the SOS Daisy Hill committee give you a commitment that we will not stop until we get what we want. We have written an 8 page action plan that we will be launching next week to show you all the things that we are going to do, to keep the pressure on the Department and on the Trust.
He continued "The last rally was a major success. There was a lot of things that have changed since then. We've been told we're getting four consultants. We have been told we're getting overnight elective surgery which basically means we will have at least two consultants in the hospital 24/7. The one area that we're not happy with is in the reduction of beds that are going to go from 104 Commission beds, down to 82. That is not acceptable because at this current moment, there is 137 in the beds up there. Where is that shortfall going to go. Craigavon can not manage it, the Royal can not manage it so we have to continue battling and fighting and putting our foot forward to say the people of Newry, Mourne, South Down and South Armagh will not accept anything less than an international quality of health that you deserve."
Curtis concluded "Now to finish our rally off today, this is only the start. It is very very important that every one of you walk to Daisy Hill and we're going to walk right round the hospital to put a ring of steel on it and let them see it's ours, you cannot touch it, you have to invest in it."
No Kidding
Following the rally the colourful protest march walked to Daisy Hill Hospital via Monaghan Street where participants showed their support for the workers there. The participants continued to walk right round the facility via the Camlough Road symbolising a ring of steel protecting the hospital. The march was led by a group of children. Another colourful participant in the march was a pet goat led by Gary Worsford. Perhaps subliminally telling the Southern Trust, the Department of Health and our political representatives that the people of Newry are not 'kidding' when they say they will do all they can to protect Daisy Hill Hospital.
