Ms Grant responding to the announcement that Maternity services in Daisy Hill Hospital are to be temporarily moved to Craigavon Area Hospital due to staff sickness and that Daisy Hill would be unable to provide safe medical cover over the weekend. Ms Grant said while we can all agree that we want safe services. Shifting the services even for a brief period seems like an over cumbersome way to handle what they are calling a short-term problem. She added as there is clearly capacity at Craigavon Area Hospital, why not send staff to help cover Daisy Hill.
The Workers Party is concerned that this could be a first step to move the service permanently. There are well documented cases of temporary relocation of services across Northern Ireland becoming permanent. In relation to Maternity services, it is important for pregnant women to be near their families and support systems as it can be an anxious and stressful time. Transport services in rural areas are not that frequent and can be costly for families who need to visit.
Ms Grant said the ongoing medical staffing challenges with regards to obstetrics and gynaecology needs to be solved urgently, patients should not be following medical staff they should be following the patients. Certain guarantees were given that maternity services would remain in Daisy Hill Hospital, and the service users and patients expect those promises to be kept, and that pledges of continuity of services will apply to Daisy Hill maternity unit. The residents of the catchment for Newry and Armagh deserve nothing less.
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