A RECALL of almost 40 Fermanagh patients who had been receiving treatment for a heart condition which began in June is still ongoing. The patients were recalled in what The Western Trust described as “a precautionary measure.” The recall has been made following a review of patients’ files and affects those suffering from aortic stenosis […]
Weeks before Christmas, 82-year-old has nowhere to live
The 82-year-old’s family have been highlighting their father’s plight.
Treat in store for SWAH staff working Christmas
THE kind hearted staff at Lough Erne Cakes are on a mission to bring Christmas to those doctors nurses and other health workers who are on duty over Christmas. Each Christmas Day, cake maker Baiba Lauze along with her hardworking team create hundreds of cupcakes and hand deliver them to the wards of the South […]
Hospital paying a heavy price for no-show patients
…each missed appointment at SWAH costs £170 PATIENTS not showing up to their appointments at SWAH are costing the hospital tens of thousands each month. In fact, the hospital could have employed at least a dozen extra nurses with the money lost on patients not showing up in just a handful of months this […]
NHS campaigners wary of plans for future of hospital
A NEW initiative shaping the future for Enniskillen’s South West Acute Hospital is raising concerns among local health service campaigners. The ‘Pathfinder’ initiative is described by the Western Trust as aiming to ‘find the best route forward for affordable Health and Social Care for Fermanagh and West Tyrone.’ In July, following concerns about the sustainability […]
Pay freeze health workers warn of huge strike action
Fermanagh health sector workers could be taking to picket lines in the new year if something isn’t done to improve their working conditions.
Long treks for hospital visits linked to staff shortage
AT a time when SWAH is struggling to attract nursing staff, it has been revelaed that the cost of attracting overseas nurses to the North is ‘ballooning’ as recruiting firms received £750,000 to fill nursing vacancies. And a local health service campaigner has claimed that the growing number of Fermanagh people having to travel to […]
Patients face three-hour journey to pain relief clinic
PEOPLE in Fermanagh who require pain management or a chronic pain service are being forced to travel to Omagh or Derry to be seen by a consultant. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request carried out by Enniskillen woman Helen Hamill explains that the Western Trust is currently not providing a chronic pain service at South […]
Health chief’s starkest warning yet on future of SWAH
IN THE clearest indication yet that services at South West Acute Hospital may need to be cut the second most senior executive of the Western Trust has warned that the hospital faces difficulties in ‘maintaining current services on a stable footing’. In an unusually forthright statement on the future of SWAH, deputy chief executive Kieran […]