Disabled rights campaigner fears permanent removal of surgeries

ONE of Tyrone’s most tenacious disabled rights campaigners has voiced his scepticism over the Western Health Trust’s claim that the recent removal of emergency surgical services at South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), Enniskillen, is only ‘temporary’.

Greencastle man, Dermot Devlin, said he ‘fears’ that that once emergency surgical services close at SWAH on December 18, 2022, they will never open again.

Expressing his grave concerns with the UH earlier this week, Mr Devlin said, “Keeping these crucial services in operation is not only important for disabled people, it is vital for us all. However, people with disability will, on average, rely on them more often.”

While Mr Devlin did emphasise that he could not be certain that the recent closure of services in SWAH will be permanent, he also said that one only needs to look at what happened to the Tyrone County Hospital to see a template for how this situation could spiral.

“For those who witnessed the tragedy that befell the Tyrone County Hospital, the present situation with SWAH feels eerily familiar,” he said. “In the case of Omagh, services fell one-by-one, until, eventually, all we were left with was a glorified health centre and the ruins of a once vibrant and vital hospital.

“I just hope that the same domino effect that toppled the ‘County does not do the same to SWAH.”

But, Mr Devlin is not willing to sit back and idly allow these decisions to go unchallenged.

“As part of the deal to phase out services in Omagh and move them to Enniskillen, a commitment was made that the roads between the two towns would be improved. That was 14 years ago, and only about half of those promises have been fulfilled. We need to hold the people who make these decisions, on our behalf, to account.

“We have to take to the streets, speak up on social media, and communicate with MPs MLAs and councillors.

“We need to let the Trust and the Department of Health know that we are the ones who stand to win or lose from these choices. It is our lives: Our voices must be heard.

“If this does start a chain effect and SWAH loses its acute services, Altnagelvin will be the only acute hospital in the west.

“It is already under unsustainable pressure, and may not be able to safely absorb all of SWAH’s displaced patients.

“We cannot allow that to happen. Many people will die.”