1 Comment
>Following a meeting with the Southern Health and Social Care Trust on Thursday, Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty has accused the trust of 'inaction' in relation to filling surgical vacancies at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry.
Since 28 February all emergency general surgical patients who need inpatient assessment in the Southern Trust are being admitted to Craigavon Area Hospital.
At present approximately 3-5 patient transfers take place per day from Daisy Hill Hospital Emergency Department to Craigavon Hospital General Surgical Wards. Transfers happen via patient own transport, private ambulance and NIAS.
This is a contingency plan, developed by the Trust’s surgical team, along with clinical colleagues at both Daisy Hill and Craigavon hospital sites, to address what a spokesperson called "a very immediate and significant patient safety risk due to difficulties recruiting and retaining staff."
In a reply to Mr McNulty's comments a Trust representative told Newry.ie that the launch of a Public Consultation on future service provision and Trust wide advertisements for Consultant General Surgeons would occur in June.
At last week's meeting Mr McNulty pressed the Southern Trust on why they have not yet begun the recruitment process to fill the vacancies at Daisy Hill.
Speaking at the Trust Board Meeting Mr. McNulty questioned whether the decision to “temporarily” relocate emergency general surgery from Daisy Hill to Craigavon was now a fait accompli.
The Newry and Armagh MLA commented “After initially denying that there were any plans to remove emergency general surgery from Daisy Hill, the Trust then did a U-turn in January, assuring us that this latest service withdrawal was merely a ‘temporary measure’.
“Now we learn that the Trust have not recruited to fill these roles and appear merely to be going through the motions with their public consultation over the summer – this is unacceptable.
“Through my questioning of the Health Minister, we know that even though there were identified pressures on surgical staffing, the Trust made no effort to recruit emergency general surgeons to Daisy Hill in the years leading up to this most recent service collapse.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to square the Trust’s public statements with their private inaction. This latest news will no doubt leave people across our area scratching their heads and wondering – are the Trust content to let Daisy Hill wither on the vine?
Newry.ie asked the Southern Trust if they wanted to comment on Mr McNulty's comments. The Trust said that plans are in progress for a Public Consultation on the future of emergency and elective general surgery across the area and that they plan to 'advertise on a Trust wide basis for Consultant General Surgeons in June' although whether that includes Consultants specifically for Daisy Hill isn't stated.
A project team is currently developing proposals for public consultation on a longer-term best practice model to improve both emergency and elective general surgery across the Southern area.
Director of Acute Services for the Trust, Melanie McClements said “A detailed update was given to Mr McNulty and all those who attended the recent Trust Board meeting on the emergency general surgical situation and the ongoing recruitment process.
“The contingency arrangement is working well for patients and staff and we are currently on track to launch a consultation at the end of June.
“As we have consistently said from the outset of this process, a refreshed recruitment strategy will be key to supporting any agreed new model and will be progressed alongside any new proposals.
“We also clearly explained that whilst we cannot pre-empt the outcome of the consultation process, we have been working with the Royal College of Surgeons to explore the best possible approach to improve the response to any future advertisements and are planning to advertise on a Trust wide basis for Consultant General Surgeons in June.
“We thank our public representatives for their continued support and understanding as we work through the process that we set out in January, to help improve both emergency and elective general surgery for the population of the Southern Trust.”
