Plans to extend Fermanagh school progressing


ALMOST a decade on and the long-awaited redevelopment of the historic Portora school building could finally get underway, with planners recommending giving the plans the green light. Since the amalgamation of Portora Royal and the Enniskillen Collegiate in 2016, forming the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, students and staff have been operating across the two sites. Over […]

Fermanagh school leading the way with phone ban


A FERMANAGH principal has said the impact of banning phones from their school has resulted in the most positive change they have seen in their entire teaching career. Last week it was announced that, from September, St Fanchea’s College in Enniskillen will be taking part in a northern-wide pilot project that will restrict the use of phones during the […]

‘Dramatic deterioration’ in ambulance handovers


THERE has been a significant increase in the length of ambulance handover waiting times across the North over the past four years, and patients are potentially coming to “severe harm” as a result. That is the conclusion of the Auditor General, Dorinna Carville, who published a major report yesterday (Tuesday) on ambulance handover times, which […]

Fermanagh gears up for bumper bank holiday weekend


ENNISKILLEN is the place to be once again this St Patrick’s Day, with tens of thousands expected to descend on the county town for the celebrations. The hard working team at Project St Patrick have organised yet another bumper bank holiday weekend focused around this year’s theme of ‘Jump and Jive into ‘25’. The festivities […]

SOAS presents SWAH roadmap to the Department of Health


VOLUNTEERS from campaign group Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) travelled to Belfast again this week, this time to make the case for its plan to save SWAH services directly to the Department of Health. Back in January SOAS launched a comprehensive ‘roadmap’ plan on how to restore and protect services at the Enniskillen hospital, not least emergency general surgery […]

Western Trust apologises to Fermanagh patient


THE Western Trust has apologised to a Fermanagh patient over medication recording errors that happened as a result of their transfer from the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) to Altnagelvin for emergency surgery. The incident has once again raised questions as to how the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) could state it had encountered “no immediate patient safety issues” regarding the […]