>For people with access to Microsoft word, a Word document (Longer suggested answer to answer the three Questions asked) to attach to your email is available to Download below.

If you can’t download the file – please see below for the Answers to the three questions asked (Q4a – c, page 51 of EQIA doc:

Response to the Department of Health Draft Budget 2025-26 Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). (Longer version, V1b)

4. As part of the consultation process, we invite stakeholders to consider the information included within this EQIA and provide feedback through the following consultation questions.

Q4. a. Are there any adverse impacts in relation to any of the Section 75 equality groups that have not been identified in section 5 of the EQIA Consultation document? If so, what are they?

Yes, all nine equality groups in Newry & Mourne Local Government District, the highest LGD population in the Southern Trust area, (with the largest population of children), will be harmed by the Southern Trust budget proposal to spend c£88.3 million to build a new ‘Newry Community Treatment Centre’ in Newry for ‘acute services’ which are being stripped and transferred from Newry’s Acute Hospital at Daisy Hill.

The Southern Trust Delivery Plan 2018/19, p97 has already stated regarding the purpose of this Treatment centre: “The Trust is continuing to progress plans for a Health and Care centre in Newry which will support the shift of Acute services primarily from Daisy Hill Hospital to a community facility.”

Serious harmful  impacts will arise from this – It is not equal treatment  for this  budget to allow the removal of acute services from Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry, while the budget proposal for Craigavon Hospital is to expand ‘extra bed capacity’, all decided without a Population Needs Assessment.  NISRA Population statistics show that there has always been a higher population in Newry & Mourne Locality/lgd than in Craigavon Locality/lgd. 

The large population of Newry & Mourne will be denied access to acute hospital inpatient services they need (previously provided in Daisy Hill Hospital) meaning they will be further disadvantaged as they will unacceptably have to travel all the way to Craigavon to access hospital inpatient acute services (including in an emergency). This will cost them extra money, and make it more difficult for them to access a necessary public service, for which funding had been allocated for them.

It will also take jobs away from Newry and must be examined in terms of human rights and good relations. 

Please look at the Census 2021 data on religious background and political background by local government district ward.  

Q4b. Please state what action you think could be taken to reduce or eliminate any adverse impacts in allocation of the Department’s draft budget?

The DOH have a duty of care to ensure Daisy Hill Acute Hospital gets the funding for services, redevelopment and clinical staff it is entitled to and must be included in Southern Trust requested budget allocations.  The DOH must ensure funding is spread evenly and fairly across both Acute Hospitals in the Southern Trust: Daisy Hill, Newry and Craigavon Hospital.   

To reduce harmful impacts please do the following:

Action 1:   As Newry & Mourne LGD has always had the highest Locality/LGD population in the Southern Trust, Redirect proposed funding for (1) ‘Newry Community Treatment Centre’ (c£88.3 million) and (2) ‘additional bed capacity at Craigavon’ and use it instead for extra inpatient acute beds in Daisy Hill Hospital and to provide the first stage of a new major specialist acute Area Hospital building in Newry City.  This new hospital should be secured for the long term future in Newry as an Acute Area Hospital with 24/7 Level 1 ED, ICU and permanent major diagnostic equipment, (essential for retention of specialist clinical staff).          

Action 2: Carry out an accurate assessment of the needs of the population to make sure there is equality of TIMELY access to acute inpatient hospital services provided in the Southern Trust area.  The population of 161,308 people on Doctors Registers in Newry & District (DoH 2023) need guarantees there will be proper long term investment in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital in Newry.  

Action 3: The Southern Trust should urgently bring back Daisy Hill Hospital 10 bedded High Dependency Unit (HDU) in Newry which was taken away to Craigavon Hospital during the beginning of the pandemic. (Daisy Hill Hospital HDU was identified as essential by Daisy Hill Pathfinder Report in 2017).   

Action 4: Use the Funding to restore Emergency Surgery and Acute Stroke beds to Daisy Hill Acute Hospital (DHH), Newry.  The Nuffield Trust: March 2023 stated clearly that Hyper Acute Stroke Unit Beds were urgently needed in DHH, but Southern Trust still need to ask the DOH for funding for these beds in their business plans.                                                                                                                                                                                         

Q4c. Are there any other comments you would like to make in regard to this EQIA or the consultation process generally?

When Health Budgets are shared out they are supposed to be allocated fairly but these budget proposals are not based on the needs of all the population in the Southern Trust.  Newry & District has the second highest number of Patients of the 17 GP Registers in NI (c161,308) (DOH 2023) after only Derry and the continued failure of the Southern Trust to provide TIMELY access to specialist hospital inpatient healthcare in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital in Newry can be ignored no longer.                        

Re Rural Needs Assessment: Under the Rural Needs Act it is the duty of the Department to ensure that the social and economic needs of the Newry Mourne and Down area is looked after.  The economic prosperity of rural areas depends on employment opportunities that having a fully functioning specialist Acute Hospital like Daisy Hill brings.  Newry is the gateway to NI and there must be a major Area acute hospital with 24/7 Level 1 ED to provide for road, farm, school, and work accidents etc this must be considered and can’t be ignored.            

Re Rural Impact: pg 8 EQIA states page: ‘Trusts may have to consider implementing measures with high and catastrophic impact on a range of services which will undoubtedly have direct patient consequences.’ But in the Southern Trust it is only the mainly rural population of Newry Mourne and Down that will be disadvantaged.

Response to DOH Draft Budget 2025-26 Ends here.

Ways to Respond

All responses will be considered as part of the Department of Health funding decisions.

Comments on the Departments 2025-26 Draft Budget Equality Impact Assessment can be submitted by email.

Email: draftbudget25-26response@health-ni.gov.uk

By Email Message

Compose a New Message (or use pen icon)

Put Email Address: draftbudget25-26response@health-ni.gov.uk into the ‘To‘ field of the Email (Recipient)

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Links and Background

CONSULTATION LINK 

Department of Health NI Consultation: Equality Impact and Rural Needs Impact Assessment of the 2025-26 Budget Outcome – all documents available from the link below:

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-draft-budget-2025-26

Quick Access to Consultation Docs –

Draft Budget 2025-26 – Equality Impact Assessment Adobe PDF (1 MB) https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/doh-consultation-draft-budget-25-26-equality-impact-assessment.pdf

Draft Budget 2025-26 – Rural Needs Impact AssessmentAdobe PDF (617 KB) https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/doh-consultation-draft-budget-25-26-rural-needs-impact-assessment.pdf

Background:

Population info : NISRA

Population info from Daisy Hill for Life: https://savedaisyhillhospital.com/

Information on this and other similar topics is also available at the companion Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/daisyhillforlife/ Please Follow or Like the Page to receive updates. Thank you.