The Department of Health will soon announce the outcome of the Hospital Network Public Consultation to reveal if Daisy Hill Acute Hospital in Newry has been renamed as an Area Hospital.
Four evidence based reasons for Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry to be renamed as an Area Hospital are:
(1) Historical Basis
(2) Population size
(3) Large land area and
(4) Strategic location.
REASON 1: HISTORICAL BASIS -THE FACTS: DAISY HILL – A NHS HOSPITAL IN 1949 AND 1 OF 9 EQUAL ACUTE HOSPITALS DESIGNATED IN 2003
Daisy Hill in Newry was made an NHS Hospital in 1949, and was designated by Government as one of a REGIONAL Network of nine EQUAL status major Acute Hospitals in NI in 2003. These decisions were made then, because of the large Population and large land area size, after a DOH Regional Consultation, ‘Developing Better Services’.
In 2003 it was a Ministerial Decision by Minister Des Browne to designate Daisy Hill in Newry as one of the 9 Acute Hospitals of Equal standing. All of these nine hospitals are vital to ensure timely access to CONULTANT LED 24/7 Emergency Surgical and Emergency Medical AND MATERNITY Services WITHIN ONE HOUR, to the entire population of NI no matter where they choose to live. * (Ref 1)
REASON 2: POPULATION SIZE –FACT : NEWRY & MOURNE – THIRD HIGHEST POPULATION in NI
Using official NISRA 2026 Estimated population figures, NEWRY & MOURNE (FORMER LGD) IS RANKED THIRD HIGHEST POPULATION OF THE 26 FORMER COUNCILS IN NI.
Ranking out of 26 councils /Name of Council/ 2026 est. Population size
- 1st out of 26: Belfast LGD -290,808 people
- 2nd out of 26: Lisburn LGD – 136,843 people
- 3rd out of 26: Newry & Mourne LGD – 111,508 people
- 4th out of 26: Derry LGD – 110,577 people
This 3rd place ranking for Newry & Mourne shows its very high population across the NI Region of 26 councils.
NEWRY & MOURNE IN THE TOP FOUR in NI FOR OVER 5O YEARS
NISRA Statistics also show that SINCE 1971 NEWRY & MOURNE LGD HAS RANKED IN THE TOP 4 HIGHEST POPULATIONS IN NI FOR OVER 50 YEARS WITH BELFAST, LISBURN (GREATER BELFAST) AND DERRY. So Newry & Mourne is growing still further and is entitled to have an Area Hospital.
Important Note: NI Health Care Trusts are still officially organised under the 26 council model.**(Ref 2)
REASON 3: LAND MASS AREA – FACT: NEWRY & MOURNE – THIRD LARGEST IN NI
NEWRY & MOURNE (Former LGD) IS RANKED THIRD LARGEST OF THE LAND MASS areas of the 26 former councils in NI.
Using official NISRA Land Measurements, Fermanagh has the largest land measurement with 1699.3sq km. Omagh is second (1129.9sq km) and Newry & Mourne is third largest land measurement with 898.3 sq km ***(Ref3)
REASON 4: LOCATION– FACT: NEWRY’S STRATEGIC LOCATION
Newry city is the main Gateway to NI, strategically located on the Belfast-Dublin Trans European Network, Road, Rail, and Sea economic corridor where hundreds of thousands travel through yearly.
Newry is also the Gateway to the three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty which comprise the designated Mourne Gullion Strangford UNESCO Global Geopark which also attract many thousands of visitors travelling through the Newry area annually. Newry has excellent road and rail links, and is connected to the major Port of Warrenpoint. Daisy Hill ACUTE Hospital is located at this major population settlement in Newry.
CONCLUSION – SOLUTIONS TO HOSPITAL NETWORK REFORM
Acute Hospital status, Population, Land mass and location are the 4 main factors to determine the entitlement for an Area Hospital for Daisy Hill, Hospital, Newry in the proposed regional network.
Daisy Hill Hospital is entitled to have a full range of specialist acute services and inpatient beds, along with 24/7 consultant led Accident & Emergency, with emergency surgery and consultant led maternity services just the same as the other named Area Hospitals, in the proposed new Network of Hospitals.****(Ref 4)
To ensure equality of timely access to Consultant Led 24/7 365 Regional inpatient acute Services like Accident and Emergency surgical and Medical services like Heart and Stroke, and consultant led maternity services all Area Hospitals should be selected based on where the people (population) actually live.
The choice of location of Area Hospitals should not be made on the size of the hospital but should take into account the size of the population at each of the former Local Government Districts. The figures should be standardised population sizes and the land mass area to be covered by the fire and rescue service and ambulance service at each former local government district level, not just at a Regional level.
Doing this will show that Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry city is entitled to be an Area Hospital. The facts speak for themselves.
REFERENCES / BACKGROUND
*Ref 1 Developing Better Services (The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety) Minister of State Desmond Browne, 2003.
** Ref 2 THE ORGANISATION OF NI HEALTH CARE IS STILL UNDER THE 26 COUNCIL MODEL
Operational areas in Health trusts still remain under the 26 council model. The former 26 Councils or Local Government Districts (LGDS) or localities are still named in legislation and remain as the Operational area of NI Health Trusts (Establishment Order 2006) and Commissioning Groups.
***Ref 3 Statistics on Population and Land Mass are from Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).
****Ref 4 Department of Health Consultation ‘Hospitals – Creating a Network for Better Outcomes’
For more from this website on this topic – See also : https://savedaisyhillhospital.com/2025/01/26/daisy-hill-newry-is-entitled-to-be-in-the-area-hospital-category-in-the-doh-hospital-network-public-consultation-2024-25/
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