Kyle set for first Christmas as helm of Carrybridge RNL


WHILE most of us sit down to tuck into our turkey dinners this Christmas, Fermanagh’s volunteer lifeboat crews will be on call to sacrifice time with their loved ones to save others. One of those will be Carrybridge RNLI’s Kyle Boyd, who is getting set for his first Christmas as a helm at the station, […]

Christmas market to bring festive cheer to Enniskillen


THE ORGANISERS of last year’s Christmas Market in Enniskillen are bringing back the festive fun to Fermanagh’s county town this weekend. Rosie Keaney from Belleek, along with a team of enthusiastic volunteers, organised last year’s festive market at Enniskillen Castle. This year the three-day seasonal market will be held at Blue Green Yonder on the […]

General surgery move will only be ‘a sticking plaster’


WHILE local community campaign group Save Our Acute Services has cautiously welcomed comments from the Department of Health that elective surgeons could intervene in emergency situations at the SWAH in future, it has warned this will only be “a sticking plaster” to the current crisis. Cllr Donal O’Cofaigh from SOAS said Western Trust chief executive […]

Glimmer of hope in surgery campaign


THERE is a small glimmer of hope that the local community campaign to save emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital is having an impact, on the back of new comments from the Department of Health to the Herald. Essentially, the Department has now confirmed to the ‘Herald that when the planned Elective […]

Research shows local impact of SWAH cuts


THE Save Our Acute Surgery (SOAS) group has launched the first in a series of research papers outlining the impact the suspension of emergency general surgery at the SWAH will have on the local population. This research highlights in stark detail the extra journey times patients requiring emergency surgery from the county now face. It also […]

GP hits out at system stopping doctors coming home


WITH local GP services at breaking point, a local doctor has hit out at the systemic restrictions putting GPs off coming home to practise. In recent years the situation with GP cover in rural parts of the county has become increasingly precarious, with doctors retiring and resigning but no doctors available to replace them. However, there […]