LOCAL councillors have unanimously demanded an independent public inquiry into the Western Trust’s handling of the emergency surgery crisis at the SWAH, and renewed their calls for Trust chief executive, Neil Guckian, to “consider his position”.
At the April meeting of the Council, members were referred to a general briefing paper on the SWAH situation supplied by the Western Trust, issued in response to Council queries on the current provision of services at the hospital, which was not well received, with Cllr Donal O’Cofaigh claiming it was “once again, a very dishonest response from management.”
He said he felt the Trust had been “making a habit of being less than open with this Council,” such as with the claim the SWAH ED remains a Type 1 emergency department.
Cllr Cofaigh said, “We all know that requires 24-hour surgical provision on-site. The reality is this status is now hanging on the fact there are consultant obstetricians on-site on a round-the-clock basis.
“That’s very far away from what you’d expect from an emergency department. We do not have the same provision. We no longer have urgent or emergency surgery at the SWAH.”
He continued, “Likewise, the Trust deny the existence of the ‘Golden Hour,’ despite the [fact the] Trauma Triage Policy adopted across Northern Ireland in 2015 sets out a 60-minute target for access to emergency surgery.
“Indeed, this was actually reduced to 45-minutes in the last few years. It’s now ‘the Golden 45 minutes’, which was also referred in the stroke campaign.
“Yet this access is now lost in our area and when quizzed on the 45-minute access time, the Trust seem to believe this doesn’t extend west of the Bann.
“There can be no greater confirmation of our second-class citizenship in this part of Northern Ireland regarding access to life-saving treatment than such a claim.”
He proposed the Council write to Department of Health permanent secretary Peter May, and Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris “demanding a fully independent public inquiry into the handling of the current SWAH crisis by the Western Trust and the circumstances surrounding what they have created”.
This was seconded by Cllr Eamon Keenan, who said, “The Trust still claim the closure of emergency general surgery at the SWAH is temporary, while showing us no actions or measures they are taking or planning.”
Cllr Paul Blake agreed, telling members, “We need the Permanent Secretary to step up and call for a full public inquiry into the Western Trust’s mismanagement, which we’ve seen and highlighted.
“There was a sham of a public consultation.”
“Mr. Guckian really needs to consider his position, because as a Council, we really struggle to have any confidence in him.”
Cllr Diana Armstrong, stated, “I fully support a public inquiry into the management of the Western Trust and the actions which have led to this.
“It should also look at why the two most recently built hospitals are in the south of the Western Trust area, and how they are led to this position.”
The proposal passed unanimously.
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