We are many, we are strong and the Law is here to protect our Right to Healthcare
POPULATION NEED IN NEWRY & MOURNE
Newry & Mourne LGD* has always had the highest population; highest number of births and highest number of children aged under 18 of the five localities /LGDs) in the Southern Trust area.
(*See below for info on the 5 LGD populations in the Southern Trust )
Population Need: Newry & District GP Federation
Newry & District with 159,599 patients – has the 2nd Highest number of patients registered with the 17 GP Federations in all NI. (Derry is the highest and Newry & District is the Second Highest. Figures: 2021/22)
Newry & District has the 2nd Highest number of children in NI under 18 (36,117). Figures: 2021/22)
* The Newry & Mourne LGD is still relevant as the former 26 Council Model is still used today in terms of the ‘operational areas’ of the Health and Social Care Trusts in NI.
There are FIVE Local Government Districts (LGDs) in the Southern Trust area. In consistent order of population size since the Southern Health Trust was established in 2007, they rank:
>(1st) Newry & Mourne
>(2nd) Craigavon
>(3rd) Armagh
>(4th) Dungannon
>(5th) Banbridge.
Newry & Mourne LGD has a population of 106,813 with 28,116 (Children Under-18s) (2020 NISRA )
Newry & Mourne LGD has always had the highest population; highest number of births and highest number of children aged under 18 of the five localities /LGDs) in the Southern Trust area.
LAWS WHICH PROTECT YOU RE: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE /PUBLIC SERVICES
>Human Rights Act 1998, (Right to life…etc)
>NI Act 1998, (Section 75 Equality categories including disability, political opinion, race, and so on)
>Fair Treatment and Employment Legislation (Access to premises)
>The Southern Health Social Services Trust (Establishment) Order (NI) 2006
>The Southern Health Social Services Trust (Dissolution Order) (NI) 2006
>Managing Public Money (NI)
We have to pre-pay for our hospital services in Daisy Hill Acute Area Hospital, Newry city through Regional Rates, Taxes and National insurance deductions from our wages so are entitled to value for money.
The Population need in Newry & Mourne and all Laws shown here must be adhered to by all relevant authorities when they commission and/or remove hospital services and accommodation.
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We welcome sharing of this info and the use of excerpts and links, please give full and clear credit to http://www.savedaisyhillhospital.com and Daisy Hill for Life with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thank-you.
Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newryearned the right to be recognised as a Major functioning Acute Hospital because it was designated in 2003as 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 theNewry & 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
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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We welcome sharing of this info and the use of excerpts and links, please give full and clear credit to http://www.savedaisyhillhospital.com and Daisy Hill for Life with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thank-you.
Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry City – the Acute Area Hospital for Newry &Mourne, South Armagh
It appears that the Southern Trust have decided, against the wishes of the people who have paid for the service, to remove Emergency Surgery from Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City from 28th February 2022, leaving the population abandoned without any nearby alternative to provide life saving Emergency Surgery.
This highly controversial decision has been made by the Southern Trust without any Public Consultation, or Equality Impact Assessment showing they had not given due regard to their duties under Section 75 of the 1998 NI Act.
These Section 75 duties have to be addressed DURING the decision-making process, NOT AFTERWARDS. The Equality Commission in NI gives clear guidance to Public Authorities on their duties under Section 75 NI 1998 Act.
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.
The three good relations categories are: people of different religious belief; political opinion and racial group.
It is a fundamental right of everyone who is in need of Immediate life saving Emergency Surgical Care to be seen immediately as at present in all of the ten Emergency Departments in NI no matter where they are located within NI.
Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry City is the longest established major acute hospital in the Southern Trust
The people of Newry & Mourne (which includes South Down and South Armagh) continue to pay extensively through Rates and Taxes including National Insurance contributions to ensure they have a fully functioning Acute Hospital with a 24/7 Type 1 Emergency Surgery and Emergency Medical Department, to look after their population should they need it when they are at their most sick and vulnerable at the Newry & Mourne, South Armagh Area Hospital at Daisy Hill.
Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry City is the longest established major acute hospital in the Southern Trust – We have a right to have our say through meaningful Public Consultation and be shown Equality Impact Assessments when any service the Southern Trust must provide is being taken away. We have prepaid for our Life Saving Emergency services and are entitled to Value for Money the same as everyone else in NI.
This is not up for negotiation.
Newry & Mourne has always had the largest population in the operational area of the Southern Trust with a population of 106,813 including 28,116 aged Under 18. (NISRA 2020).
Newry City must have a fully functioning Major Acute Hospital which includes Consultant Led Type 1 ED with Emergency Surgery like all of the Acute Hospital Type 1 Regional Network EDs in NI.
KEYFACTS
Daisy Hill Acute Hospital is located in Newry, Gateway City to NI, where (in Jan to Dec 2021) 51,668 men, women and children needed Emergency Surgical and/or Emergency Medical Care.
In the year April 2018 to March 2019 (before the Southern Trust closed DHH ED at the start of Covid) over 2,200 patients were admitted to Daisy Hill acute Hospital for non-elective surgery through the Emergency Department.
This is a clear indication of the need for this vital life saving service
Section 75 Duties must be addressed by Public Authorities
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The Southern Trust’s proposal to centralise Emergency Surgery from Daisy Hill Hospital Type 1 Emergency Department, Newry City, expecting patients needing immediate life saving emergency surgery to go to Craigavon, is not a viable or safe alternative.
As the accompanying ED Attendances Waiting Times Table shows: in the year Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 Craigavon ED had 11,009 patients who had to wait over 12 hours to be seen, discharged or admitted to hospital.
Dr Paul Kerr, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Northern Ireland on a BBC programme on 12 Feb 2022 speaking about long delays and long waits in Emergency Departments in NI in December 2021 said:
“The situation in Emergency Departments in Northern Ireland is dire, the data show that it is very bad indeed. The reality is that patient care is now regularly being compromised, their safety is at risk. “We know that delays and long-waits in Emergency Departments are closely associated with patient harm and poor outcomes. The Royal College’s report ‘Crowding and its Consequences’ found that one in 67 patients waiting for 12 hours or more are associated with avoidable harm or potential death within 30 days.”
It is because nobody knows who is going to need Emergency Surgery or Emergency Medical Care that the Regional Network of Type 1 EDs (in the accompanying Table) were designated IN ALL 10 Acute Hospitals in a FAIR GEOGRAPHICAL provision of Emergency Surgical and Emergency Care across NI.
Centralisation of Emergency surgery from Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City to Craigavon is not a safe or viable option.
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DAISY HILL ACUTE HOSPITAL, NEWRY CITY IS ENTITLED TO ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE DESIGNATED NI NETWORK OF ACUTE HOSPITALS WITH 24/7 EMERGENCY SURGICAL AND MEDICAL CARE.
The Southern Trust are proposing yet again to withdraw Emergency Surgery Services from Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City, without adhering to any procedures that every other Health Trust has to follow, such as public consultation, Department of Health “Change or Withdrawal of Services.” Guidelines, Equality Impact Assessment, Rural Needs Act, Fair Treatment and Employment Legislation or NICE Clinical recommendations.
The Southern Trust needs to recognise that Daisy Hill Acute Hospital is not a support hospital for Craigavon. Daisy Hill Acute Hospital, Newry City has been given the right to be a fully functioning Acute Hospital, with 24/7 Emergency Surgical and Medical Care Services. It has a right to its place in the Regional Network of Emergency Care provision across NI since 2003.
It was a Department of Health decision to include Daisy Hill as a vital part of the Regional Network of Acute Hospitals with 24/7 A & E Services. In 2003 the Health Minister made an announcement that following Consultation, 8,000 reports, letters, postcards and e-mails as well as petitions bearing some 40,000 signatures that a Network of ten Acute Hospitals with 24/7 Emergency Departments with Accommodation, Emergency Surgery and Emergency Medical Care was the only way to ensure timely access to Acute Hospital Services and 24/7 Care for the entire population, no matter where they lived in NI.
The accompanying map shows Daisy Hill’s Geographic location in the designated DoH’s Network of Acute Hospitals. The ten Acute Hospitals of equal importance, each of which has a Type 1 Emergency Department covering both Urban and Rural geographic areas across NI are : Daisy Hill, Royal Victoria; Royal Belfast Children’s; Mater; Antrim; Ulster, Causeway; Craigavon; Altnagelvin and South West.
Under Human Rights Act and “Right to Life” No Health Trust or Department has the right to withdraw immediate LIFE SAVING SERVICES from one geographical area of Northern Ireland , especially since the Department of Health had decided already that it is essential to provide Emergency services in Daisy Hill, Newry location to SAVE lives.
Equality Laws and the Rural Needs Act are among the Statutory Rules put in place by the Government Departments responsible to protect the public, so that decisions made on public Health service provision are fair and equitable to all.
Action needs to be taken now by the Department of Health to protect the Services in the Regional Network of Acute Hospitals and all their Type 1 Emergency Departments across NI, before it’s too late.
Information on this and other similar topics is also available at the companion Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/daisyhillforlife/ – Thank you. Please Follow or Like the Page to receive updates.
Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry & Craigavon Hospital, Portadown Plans on NI planning Portal
Important hospital planning news:One refurbished ward for Daisy Hill, Newry and a new stand-alone Paediatric Unit in Craigavon – the start of Craigavon’s NEW HOSPITAL master-plan.
Southern Health Trust’s proposed plan for Craigavon’s new hospital and centralised children’s hospital services in Newry & Mourne, Armagh, Dungannon, South Tyrone, Banbridge and Craigavon is now at Planning Stage. Todd Architect’s proposed plan states: “The new stand-alone paediatric unit is the first building project in a proposed phased MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT for the Craigavon HOSPITAL SITE.. positioned as a gateway to the NEW HOSPITAL future entrance.”
Daisy Hill Hospital has been announced in the press as a proposed new Centre of excellence for Children but a comparison of the two Plans reveal that Daisy Hill is proposed a 19 bed re-development of the existing stroke ward on Level 6 to change to a children’s ward – while Craigavon Plan proposes a new stand-alone building with a Paediatric Unit with 5 consultants offices and more.
View these Planning Proposals at ni.planning.gov.ukPlanning portal This portal is sometimes hard to search – For faster direct access to plans portal ignore Ref number etc and Search using >Application details tab then select Ward = Ballybot for Daisy Hill and select Ward = Kernan for Craigavon.
Planning applications including: a detailed description, plans, maps and drawings are available to view on the Planning NI Web Portal www.planningni.gov.uk or at the Local Area Planning Office or by contacting NI Direct on 0300 200 7830. Written comments should be submitted before 24th July. Please quote the application number in any correspondence and note that all representations made, including objections, will be posted on the Planning NI Web Portal
Take notice! Is Northern Ireland a democracy or not? The future of all hospitals in Northern Ireland is being decided. It seems Lord Donaldson expects the Northern Ireland public to pay an international panel of experts ( picked by who?) to sort out the hospital and healthcare needs of nearly 2 million people, without question from anybody. This Report implies that our devolved government and MLAs should have no say on the future of our hospitals and that all decisions should be made without their (and consequently the electorates) say.
The Patient and Client council gives a summary of Recommendation 1 of Donaldson Report: “Recommendation 1: Coming together for world-class care”- “We recommend that all political parties and the public accept in advance the recommendations of an impartial international panel of experts who should be commissioned to deliver to the Northern Ireland population the configuration of health and social care services commensurate with ensuring world-class standards of care.”
The DHSSPS states – “You are now invited to share your views on the recommendations from the Donaldson Report.” –Responses must be received no later than Friday 22 May 2015.
Background info from DHSSPS:
“On 8 April 2014 former Health Minister Edwin Poots announced his intention to commission former Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, to advise on the improvement of governance arrangements across the HSC.
Sir Liam was subsequently tasked with investigating whether an improvement in the quality of governance arrangements is needed and whether the current arrangements support a culture of openness, learning and making amends.
Sir Liam’s report was published by Minister Jim Wells on 27 January 2014 in conjunction with an Oral Statement to the Assembly. The report set out ten recommendations which refer to a wide range of areas across the health service.”
Daisy Hill Hospital for Life 