On Monday, a delegation of Sinn Féin elected representatives, including the MP for the area, MLA’s Conor Murphy and Liz Kimmins and Newry city councillors held an urgent meeting with Southern Trust Chief Executive Shane Devlin, following last week’s announcement of the temporary withdrawal of emergency surgery from Daisy Hill Hospital.
Speaking after the meeting, MLA for Newry Armagh, Liz Kimmins said:
“Following this deeply worrying announcement, I along with my Sinn Féin colleagues, requested an urgent meeting with the Trust Chief Executive.
“We voiced our serious concerns and the concerns of the wider community in relation to recent developments, and the potential impacts on the future of the hospital if this is not resolved as soon as possible. We also highlighted concerns regarding the ability of Daisy Hill to carry out procedures, the recruitment of key staff including surgeons and anaesthetists, the capacity of Craigavon hospital to cope with the increased patient numbers and the need for an ICU within Daisy Hill as well as the long term future of Daisy Hill.
Staff and patients need certainty and stability and Sinn Féin will continue to stand up for Daisy Hill and the protection of all its services.
We cannot continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, it is essential the Health Minister enacts proper workforce planning on a long term basis to address this issue and to ensure we are not faced with these challenges again.
Sinn Féin are committed to promoting and supporting Daisy Hill hospital in light of the challenges imposed on the hospital by partition, where it is cut off from most of its natural hinterland by the border and we made clear the need to secure the hospital’s future.
We will continue to fight for Daisy Hill and ensure the people of this area have access to all the services that they need.
ENDS/CRÍOCH
CLANRYE NEWS 