“UNTIL you have ill health, you won’t realise how broken the system is.” That’s the message from a Fermanagh patient who, after suffering a suspected stroke, was sent home in the middle of the night without receiving a scan or a test following an 11-hour wait to be seen in the SWAH emergency department. Two days later the patient collapsed again, requiring another […]
SWC chief welcomes pay deal for local lecturers
THE news that lecturers are set to join teachers in Fermanagh and accept an improved pay settlement was music to the ears of the principal and chief executive of South West College in Enniskillen. Celine McCartan said she was “pleased that an improved pay offer was tabled to lecturers’ trade unions” after the offer was endorsed by […]
SWAH surgery removal putting pressure on ambulances
THERE is concern the removal of emergency general surgery (EGS) from the SWAH is putting pressure on the local ambulance service, with hundreds of patients needing transferred to from Enniskillen to Altnagelvin last year. Figures obtained by Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) show that from January 2023 to January 2024 the NI Ambulance Service (NIAS) […]
Fermanagh student Leanne is a cut above the competition
Leanne has being putting her scissors to the test. Enniskillen student Leanne Hall is currently studying a City & Guilds Level 3 NVQ Diploma in hairdressing at South West College, Ms Hall was recently selected as one of 36 hair stylists from across the UK to reach the final stage of the L’Oréal Professionnel Paris ID Artist […]
Exodus of Fermanagh health workers moving south
THE local health service is hemorrhaging experienced professional staff, who are hopping across the border where they are getting “significantly” better pay for doing the same jobs. The Western Trust has warned of a “challenging” situation in retaining Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) in the local service, with over 40 staff leaving the area to go south over the […]
Fermanagh patient’s 25-hour wait for emergency surgery
A FERMANAGH man who recently required emergency surgery has spoken of his horrible experience of travelling to Derry and waiting over 24 hours to be treated for a condition his doctor had deemed to be very urgent. The man, who stressed he was not normally the type to contact newspapers with complaints, got in touch with the Herald after […]
Fermanagh outraged at ‘cultural issue’ comment
FERMANAGH patients are more than willing to travel for elective treatment, they are simply requesting equal access to timely treatment when it comes to emergency care. That’s the message from Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) following local anger at comments made in a report to the Department of Health which stated there was “a cultural issue” […]
‘We need to look to the future’ – Fr Brian D’Arcy
SECURING a bariatric surgery hub at the SWAH would be a “building block” to help sustain wider services into the future, officials from the Department of Health have been told. Among those to address the officials who took time out to meet with SOAS volunteers on Thursday, when the group travelled to Stormont to deliver […]
‘Fermanagh community is united behind our hospital’
THE POWER of the people of Fermanagh in the fight to save SWAH services is continuing to grow, with the current campaign to bring bariatric surgery to the hospital bringing the entire community together. As previously reported by the Herald, the Department of Health is currently running a consultation on the future of obesity services, which […]
Fears SWAH could lose acute status
CONCERN is growing that the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) could lose its ‘acute’ status, after it emerged the Western Trust is considering changing the name of the hospital. Recently released minutes from a meeting of the SWAH Strategic Development Group – which was set up by the Trust to oversee the future development of the Enniskillen hospital […]