Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry earned the right to be recognised as a Major functioning Acute Hospital because it was designated in 2003 as one of the nine Major Acute Hospitals, in its own right, like Antrim, Ulster, the Royal Group, etc. These nine acute hospitals were designated to provide 24/7 vital life saving Emergency Surgery and Emergency Medical Care to the population of NI no matter where they choose to live. (Ref 1*)
The population size of Newry & Mourne has consistently been the largest Locality in the Southern Trust operational area and the population needs Emergency Surgery in their Type 1 Emergency Department at Daisy Hill, Newry city. (Ref 2)
Since Famine times (1840’s) Newry’s Area Hospital and its compassionate staff have provided an open door to Emergency or Unscheduled care to everyone who went to there for help.
But now in February 2022, the Southern Health and Social Care Trust are withdrawing vital life saving Emergency Surgery from Daisy Hill Hospital Newry City, again without Public Consultation, or adhering to statutory duties imposed on Health Trusts by Section 75 of the NI Act 1998. They are yet again citing Southern Trust recruitment problems as the reason.
Firstly in 2016 they said they couldn’t get any consultants to replace the consultant who was retiring. The Health Minister at the time fairly agreed to fund Locums to keep the Emergency Department up and running until permanent consultants were recruited.
Since 2016, the Southern Trust, without going to any Public Consultation, have used their own recruitment problems as an excuse to avoid carrying out their Statutory function to Provide Hospital Accommodation and Services in the 24/7 Emergency Surgical and /or Emergency Medical Department in Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City.
In March 2020 The Southern Trust – the only Health Trust in NI to shut down a Type1 Acute Hospital vital life saving Emergency Department for 7 months, refused to keep the doors of Daisy Hill open to provide Emergency Surgery, Emergency Medical and Respiratory Care in Daisy Hill, Newry City, when it was needed most by the Newry & Mourne population of 106,813 people, including 28,116 under 18s at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic.
The Southern Health and Social Care Trust stated that Emergency Surgery and Emergency Medical and Respiratory Care for the whole Southern Trust population would only be provided in Craigavon, leaving Newry, South Down and South Armagh without any Emergency Surgical, Emergency Medical, or Respiratory Care for children or adults alike, while Craigavon would have 2 EDs for adults and 1 new ED for Children.
Covid 19 does not excuse them from Screening and Equality Impact Assessments.
The Southern Trust are required under Section 75 of the 1998 NI Act to address the impact their decision to remove Emergency Surgery will have on people of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status, sexual orientation, men and women generally, people who are disabled and those who are not and people who have dependants and those without in the Newry & Mourne – South Down and South Armagh area. (Ref: 3)
The three good relations categories are people of different religious belief, political opinion, and racial group. (Ref 4)
FUNCTION OF THE SOUTHERN HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES TRUST
The Southern Trust needs to stop looking for ways to centralise Emergency Services to Craigavon and provide more – (not less) beds, equipment, more medical staff, and bring Daisy Hill (Newry, South Down and South Armagh Area Hospital up to state of the art modern building standards with its fair share of capital expenditure investment as they are constantly doing in Craigavon.
They need to acknowledge and comply with their Functions clearly set out in the Southern Health and Social Services Trust 2006 Establishment Order (Ref 5)
which are:-
2(a)”to provide hospital accommodation and services at Craigavon Area Hospital, Craigavon, Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry, Longstone Hospital, Armagh, Lurgan Hospital, Lurgan, Mullinure Hospital, Armagh, St Luke’s Hospital, Armagh, and South Tyrone Hospital, Dungannon, and associated premises;
Southern Health and Social Services Trust 2006 Establishment Order
The Southern Trust Establishment Order does not give them the right to WITHDRAW accommodation (beds) or services (including staff) from Daisy Hill hospital.
If the Southern Trust want to take away vital life saving Emergency Surgery services which have been there for over 100 years, then they need to have a better excuse than their own inability to recruit medics.
And if the Southern Trust are genuinely concerned about their inability to recruit medics then they can recruit general surgery Locums for Daisy Hill like they are recruiting for Craigavon Hospital.
( BACKGROUND)
Ref 1 * Developing Better Services 2003, Department of Health NI
*Please Note: There are now 10 ten acute hospitals -as it was shown that the New South West Hospital in Enniskillen was also needed. (See also: https://savedaisyhillhospital.com/2017/08/17/daisy-hill-hospital-an-acutely-important-fact/
Ref 2: See Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency NISRA Tables at ; https://www.nisra.gov.uk/
Ref 3: https://www.equalityni.org/ECNI/media/ECNI/Publications/Individuals/Leaflet-KnowYourRights.pdf
Ref 5: Southern Health and Social Services Trust (Establishment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006
Southern Health and Social Services Trust (Establishment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006
Nature and functions of the trust:
2(a) to provide hospital accommodation and services at:
Craigavon Area Hospital, 68 Lurgan Road, Portadown, Craigavon BT63 5QQ,
Daisy Hill Hospital, 5 Hospital Road, Newry, BT35 8DR,
Longstone Hospital, 73 Loughgall Road, Armagh BT61 7PR,
Lurgan Hospital, Sloan Street, Lurgan, Co Armagh BT66 8NS,
Mullinure Hospital, Loughall Road, Armagh BT61 7NN,
St Luke’s Hospital, 71 Loughgall Road, Armagh, BT61 7NQ,
South Tyrone Hospital, Carland Road, Dungannon BT71 4AU, and associated premises;
(b) to provide community based health and personal social services from the trust headquarters and associated premises; and
(c) to exercise, on behalf of Health and Social Services Boards, such relevant functions as are so exercisable by the trust by virtue of authorisations for the time being in operation under Article 3(1) of the Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994
Southern Health and Social Services Trust (Establishment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006
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