Una Farmer, labour ward manager at South West Acute Hospital, was forced to stay in Enniskillen for five nights as access to her home in Boho was flooded Picture: Ronan McGrade
NURSES at the South West Acute Hospital have been praised for “going above and beyond” after sleeping over during Christmas to ensure they didn’t miss their shifts due to flooding.
A number of hosptial staff members who live in rural Fermanagh had to spend several nights in Enniskillen over the festive period to ensure they were able to attend their patients and were not stranded at home by the flooding.
Labour Ward Sister Una Farmer was one of those affected. She said: “I live in Boho and we had three floods this year. My home is half a mile off the road, and our whole lane was flooded, it wasn’t just the main road. I had to leave my car on the road and get a tractor out, but when it got bad I wouldn’t even have got out with my husband’s smaller tractor and we had to get a neighbour to come and get me with his tractor.
“Then it got so bad I had to spend five nights in Enniskillen. There are four roads that leave Boho and three were impassible. Nursing isn’t a job you can do from home, so I had to be at work. I couldn’t get a room at the hospital, so I stayed at the Belmore Court for three nights and with a friend for two.”
Sr Farmer, who said there had been great community cooperation in Boho during the flooding, added: “I was having to go through two floods, and when I did get out of the water I had to take a detour to Belcoo. My sister-in-law is a home help, so she needed to get to her job too but it was very difficult. She managed to get there with great difficulty and the help of tractors, though.”
Sr Farmer, who spent the night before Christmas Eve away from her home in Boho to make sure she could get to work, explained her husband had diabetes, meaning she had to keep in regular contact with him over the phone to make sure he was OK.
“If anything had happened no one could’ve got to him,” she said. “I was phoning him all the time so I knew he was fine, but it would’ve been impossible for anyone to get to him if he hadn’t been.”
Deputy chief executive of the Western Trust, Joe Lusby,paid tribute to those who had spent time away from their families during the flooding.
He said: “On behalf of the Trust I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hospital and community staff who have braved the extreme weather conditions over the past number of weeks.
“Our staff continue to work above and beyond the call of duty to ensure patients and clients receive the highest standard of care and support they need.”
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