Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP, Pat Cullen, met Health Minister Mike Nesbitt last week to discuss the ongoing ‘pause’ on the emergency general surgery consultation at the SWAH.
Describing the latest meeting as “comprehensive and informative”, Ms Cullen said discussions with Minister Nesbitt centred on the concerns of people across the constituency.
She stressed patients, staff, and the wider public must be at the heart of any future consultation because “right now confidence in the Trust has been decimated.”
“Everyone, regardless of rurality, has the right to high-quality and effective clinical care and I spoke to Minister Nesbitt at length about this,” she added.
“The issue of providing evidence-based clinical care for all of our community, cross border collaboration on health, and filling vacant posts with highly skilled staff at the SWAH, whilst retaining the current staff, were some of the many issues I discussed with Mr Nesbitt on Tuesday.”
While the public await the Western Trust’s ‘vision plan’, Ms Cullen said, “The Minister has sent a clear message by pausing the current consultation, and now we look forward to seeing the ‘vision plan’ he has requested — and the sooner the better.”
“Whilst it is ultimately for the Health Minister to make the final decision on the future of emergency general surgery in the SWAH, it is the responsibility of the Trust to provide him with a comprehensive document which takes account of the feedback from constituents, as well as the clinical evidence and advice.”