Campaigners urge locals to attend meeting on future of hospitals

HEALTH campaigners are encouraging residents to attend a Department of Health meeting in Omagh this week, which is being promoted as ‘helping to shape the health future of the area for years to come’.

The Department of Health recently announced that the deadline for its consultation, ‘Hospitals – Creating a Network for Better Outcomes’, has been extended to February 28.

The Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) campaign group has expressed concern that the consultation may lead to a permanent downgrading of the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).

However, NI Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has denied claims that the consultation aims to close hospitals, stating that the goal is to improve healthcare delivery across the region.

Ahead of the meeting at the Silverbirch Hotel this Wednesday, SOAS spokesperson Donal O’Cofaigh voiced concern over the future of SWAH.

“This hospital reconfiguration consultation will determine the health future of our area for years to come,” Mr O’Cofaigh said.

“It proposes to make permanent the removal of emergency general surgery by downgrading SWAH to a secondary-tier ‘general hospital’. This would mean emergency treatment would not include emergency surgery, and over time, other acute services at the hospital could be at risk.”

The Health Minister has said that the consultation is not focusing on ‘cutting costs of closing hospitals’.

“Reconfiguration is not about cutting costs or closing hospitals,” the Minister said.

“It’s about managing change in a controlled way to ensure that our citizens, wherever they live in Northern Ireland, receive the right treatment in the right place, at the right time.

“Our hospitals have a stronger and better future as part of a Northern Ireland network of care.”