At a Stormont health committee held in South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), committee members engaged with representatives of both hospital campaign group Save Our Acute Services and then the senior executive team of the Western Trust.
The SOAS delegation of Helen Hamill, Karen Eccles and Jimmy Hamill presented testimony of the mounting human toll that the ‘temporary’ removal of emergency surgery from SWAH was having on their community.
Under direct questioning from the health committee chair, the WHSCT board, openly suggested that there was no prospect of emergency surgery returning to SWAH and that if it did return it would be as an entirely new commissioned service. Such a decision would require action at departmental and ministerial level.
Chairperson of the WHSCT board Tom Frawley said, “There is inevitability this wont be back because once you have stopped it you can not meet the new standards.”
SOAS spokesperson Donal O’Cofaigh reacted to the statement.
“The comments by the WHSCT chair and subsequently by the Chief Executive clarified that there was never any intention to bring back emergency surgery to SWAH – even as early as 2022,” he said.
