Event on future of SWAH services attracts sparse crowd

When senior staff from the Western Health Trust met with members of the public at Omagh Leisure Centre to discuss the future of services at South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), rows of unoccupied seats suggested a local attitude of apathy, indifference or perhaps lack of awarness of the issue.

On Thursday night, in what was the third public consultation held in Tyrone regarding the ‘temporary’ removal of emergency general surgery at SWAH, a panel comprising some of the Trust’s most powerful decision-makers addressed a crowd of scarcely over a dozen people.

The Trust has undertaken this travelling consultation process in order to give the population who depend on services at SWAH the opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and have their say on how matters regarding the state-of-the-art hospital should move forward.

The first consultation in Tyrone was held in Fintona’s Ecclesville Centre a number of weeks ago, and those who sat amidst the thinly-crowded hall were commended by chief executive, Neil Guckian, and his colleagues, for their respectful and dignified cooperation.

Critics, however, worried that the Ecclesville consultation ‘went over too smoothly’.

They claimed that the spirit of anger and frustration which has reigned during consultations in Fermanagh was more appropriative to the issue, given ‘what we stand to lose’.

Unfortunately, their words did not inspire the people of Omagh and its surrounding areas to action last week.

The session in Omagh Leisure Comlex marked the end of all planned open forum consultations regarding at emergency general surgery at SWAH.

In total, three were held in Tyrone, including in Omagh, Fintona and Gortin.