Fermanagh hospital campaigners Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) have said they turned away around 20 cars from the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen last night, with some locals showing up for a Western Trust consultation meeting on the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) that was no longer taking place.
There had been confusion in the community yesterday evening as those who had booked into the event – which was due to focus on the proposed permanent removal of emergency general surgery (EGS) from the Enniskillen hospital – received a message wrongly reminding them it was taking place. A short time later the Western Trust issued an email apologising for the error.
The event was due to be the only public consultation meeting the Trust had planned to hold in Fermanagh on its proposal to permanently remove SWAH EGS. It was also ticket-only, with limited capacity. After the tickets sold out in less than two days last week, the Trust was accused of not giving the people of Fermanagh a meaningful chance to have their say on such a major service change.
Plans for a community protest outside the hotel prior to the event quickly began to emerge. Many of the hundreds who turned out for a SOAS-organised meeting at Fermanagh House last Thursday night – which was streamed online – openly declared they would be attending the demonstration.
The next day, on the eve of the bank holiday weekend, the Western Trust announced Tuesday’s event was to be postponed due to health and safety concerns.
The PSNI has since confirmed it had been contacted by the Western Trust and asked to attend the now-postponed meeting.
“Police have been engaging with Western Trust and were asked to attend a scheduled public consultation meeting to ensure the safety of all involved,” said a spokesman. “This event has since been postponed and officers will continue to engage with the Trust around future dates.”
SOAS has now called on the entire consultation process to be paused after the Patient Client Council (PCC) admitted its concerns regarding how the Trust had been handling it.
”We are not confident that in developing the plans, the Trust has given due consideration to PCC’s initial and early advice,” the body stated to SOAS.
“In light of this, we have urged the Trust to take onboard the concerns that have been raised regarding the current consultation plans and to reconsider their approach.”
The PCC letter to SOAS also confirmed the statutory body had “number of concerns regarding the planned consultation, including the timing, accessibility, proposed engagement methods and the extent to which the plans will maximise opportunities for inclusive public engagement and dialogue.”
The body added it was disappointed with how the Trust had publicly presented its conversation with the PCC, including in its media releases on the subject.
The Western Trust has said it will be rearranging last night’s meeting, and will now also be arranging a further two public events in the county.