Decision on SWAH surgery ‘always in Minister’s hands’

THERE was much confusion in the community last week after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt ‘intervened’ in the consultation on the removal of emergency general surgery (EGS) from the SWAH, with some mistakenly believing the service had been saved.
Following the last-minute cancellation of the major public consultation event that had been due to take place at the Killyhevlin Hotel last Tuesday night, the Western Trust announced on Wednesday afternoon it was pausing and “resetting” the consultation process.
“Given this week’s developments and listening to public opinion the Trust is now in the process of resetting its consultation approach,” said a Trust spokesperson on Wednesday.
Later that night, reports emerged that Health Minister Mike Nesbitt had written to the Trust asking it to pause the consultation.
Then on Thursday, following a meeting of its board of directors, the Trust confirmed its pause and apologised “for the uncertainly that has been created for the public as a result of these events.”
“Clearly our commitment is to address these issues and through a revised process of consultation and engagement,” said a spokesman.
In its statement on Thursday, the Trust also stressed that EGS remained suspended at the SWAH, and the current arrangements were still in place.
“It is important for the public to note that the temporary transfer of emergency general surgery to Altnagelvin Hospital continues to be in place,” they said.
Confusion
Hospital campaign group Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) noted the manner in which Minister Nesbitt’s ‘intervention’ had been presented had been misinterpreted by some locally.
“I think a lot of the public misread that as he had stopped the removal of surgery, there was confusion what did he pause, what was he going to do,” a SOAS spokesperson told the ‘Herald.
They added many more had questioned why Minister Nesbitt had not ordered the restoration of the EGS service.
“We welcome the intervention from the Minister, but we do feel that there is an undeniable and recognisable thread running throughout the comments made by the public on our social media feeds which are more related to why did he not just bring back surgery than stop the consultation,” they said.
The spokesperson added, “The Minister’s statement acknowledged that the Western Trust process was besieged by ‘obvious shortcomings and mistakes’.
“He suggested a more beneficial approach would be to ‘restore confidence by producing a vision plan’ for SWAH. He also stressed that ‘service reconfiguration must be handled carefully – particularly when it involves smaller hospitals like SWAH that serve rural populations’
“We think that making that acknowledgment as a Minister, that special recognition needs to be given to smaller hospitals in rural areas and SWAH fits into that and we would appeal to the Western Trust to pay heed to that and to bear that in mind when they are making their decisions about next steps.”
Department response
The spokesperson also noted that the Western Trust had confirmed to the ‘Herald previously that, if a Health Minister ordered them to restore the SWAH EGS service, they would do so.
When asked by the ‘Herald if the Minister would consider this, the Department of Health (DoH) responded with a pre-prepared statement.
“Whilst the consultation was and remains an issue for the Trust, any permanent change to the future of emergency general surgery at SWAH would require approval from the Department and Minister,” a spokesperson from the Department of Health said.
“The Minister has been very aware of the ongoing and repeated challenges with the delivery of the recent consultation exercise. He engaged directly with the Trust on the matter last week to discuss a number of concerns.”
They said that as Minister of Health his primary priority is doing what is best for patients and staff.
“Any change in service provision, and especially any proposed permanent changes, must always be guided by a clear desire to deliver and ensure better outcomes.
“The Minister has asked the Trust to use this time to act quickly to restore confidence by producing a vision plan emphasising how the South West Acute Hospital will be supported to meet both the needs of its current and future population,” they added.
“The Minister remains very mindful of the challenges which all Trusts in Northern Ireland face in both maintaining and reorganising services, not least in our smaller hospitals.”