Saoradh Newry: Defend  Maternity Services At Daisy Hill Hospital

Saoradh condemns the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to suspend maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry, from 23 November.

This latest development represents another devastating blow to healthcare provision across Newry and the wider South Armagh and Mourne communities. It is particularly concerning for expectant mothers, their families and those who depend on accessible maternity services close to home.

The people of this area have witnessed a gradual erosion of hospital services over many years. What is repeatedly presented as temporary suspension, service reorganisation or restructuring increasingly resembles a pattern of managed decline, with communities expected to accept the gradual dismantling of essential healthcare provision.

There can be no acceptance of maternity services being removed from Daisy Hill without a clear, credible and properly funded commitment to their restoration. Temporary suspensions must not become permanent closures by stealth.

We also reject the continued expectation that patients should simply travel greater distances to access essential healthcare. For many families, particularly those without reliable transport, those with disabilities and those facing financial hardship, this is neither a reasonable nor a sustainable alternative. In maternity care, unnecessary additional journeys can bring further anxiety and risk at an already vulnerable time.

While political representatives may express outrage and issue condemnations, the reality is that successive administrations have presided over the deterioration of our health service.

Austerity, underinvestment, centralisation and political mismanagement have placed enormous pressure on healthcare workers and stripped communities of vital services.

Healthcare workers should never be expected to compensate indefinitely for the failures of those responsible for planning and funding our health service. Nor should local communities be forced to continually campaign to retain services that should never have been placed under threat in the first place.

Saoradh believes that the defence of Daisy Hill must form part of a wider fight against the continued erosion of public healthcare. The people of Newry and surrounding districts deserve properly funded, accessible and comprehensive healthcare provision, not a second-class service determined by budgetary convenience.

We stand in solidarity with the campaign to defend Daisy Hill Hospital and call upon the Trust to:
• Immediately reverse the decision to suspend maternity services.
• Provide a clear and binding commitment to the restoration of a full maternity service at Daisy Hill.
• Address the chronic shortages of specialist staff through proper recruitment, training and investment.
• End the ongoing centralisation and erosion of essential hospital services.
Our communities should not have to fight to retain the basic healthcare services they are entitled to.

Saoradh encourages the widest possible community opposition to these proposals and supports collective action to defend Daisy Hill Hospital.

Defend Daisy Hill. Defend our communities. Our health service is not for dismantling.