Ancidents against A&E staff are ‘despicable’


THE NUMBER of times Police have been called to the South West Acute Hospital Emergency Department within the last three years has been revealed. A Freedom of Information request by this newspaper sought details on the number of times Police were called to incidents of violence at the local Emergency Department. A response to this query […]

SWAH at full capacity as winter pressures hit hard


THE SOUTH West Acute Hospital is currently operating at full capacity, with patients currently having to wait to be admitted, however only a small percentage of its inpatients are being treated for Covid.  At the time of gong to print on Tuesday there were currently 20 Covid patients at SWAH, none of whom were being […]

Radical health plan could restrict public use of A&E


AS the health service ‘resets’ following the peak of the Covid crisis locally, it has been proposed that A&E access should be limited to ambulances only in future. Last week the Western Trust revealed the Emergency Department (ED) at SWAH had been becoming steadily busier in recent times and demand for the service had returned […]

SWAH show of solidarity


FRONTLINE workers gathered outside the Emergency Department at SWAH on Thursday evening as a lone piper played Over the Rainbow in a bid to illustrate hope that as a community we will overcome Covid-19. The poignant event was organised by Jill Weir, Unison Branch Secretary. Explaining the motivation for organising the event she said, “This […]

SWAH

Less than half SWAH emergency patients seen within 4hrs


THE number of patients who had to wait more than 12 hours to be seen at the SWAH Emergency Department (ED) has increased dramatically this winter.   While there was also an increase in the number of people attending ED, the Western Trust has said the reason for the growing waiting times has been due […]

Hospital plea to public as winter pressures hit hard


THE LOCAL health service is under serious pressure all year round but over the next few weeks the demand on services gets even more acute. So much so that the Western Trust is implementing what it describes as a ‘winter resilience plan’ for SWAH to ensure that those in greatest need get top priority.  Unscheduled […]