A CONTINGENCY plan to accommodate more patients at Craigavon hospital could lead to the eventual closure of emergency services at Daisy Hill, MPs have warned.
The £1m plan has been approved in case night-time A&E services at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry are temporarily suspended due to staff shortages.
It comes after the Southern Trust last week warned that a lack of permanent senior medical staff at the hospital's emergency department may make overnight closures unavoidable.
SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said the proposals "expand Craigavon at the expense of Daisy Hill Hospital".
She said that emergency patients living in parts of her constituency would be too far away from Craigavon.
"While we accept that the trust when faced with staff shortages must plan contingency measures, it is a matter of grave disquiet, alarm and concern for the population of South Down that the Southern Trust are eager to invest £1m on contingency planning proposals based on the closures of Daisy Hill A&E," she said.
"Ultimately this investment will expand Craigavon at the expense of Daisy Hill Hospital."
Mickey Brady, Sinn Féin Newry and Armagh MP, said he believed the health trust was "set on a course of closing Daisy Hill emergency department".
"I had hoped that the trust would have been offering a solution to the ongoing concerns about staff cover at Daisy Hill emergency department, however, what was announced was a recipe to ensure its eventual closure and ultimately the removal of its acute hospital status. We cannot allow this to happen," he said.
Mr Brady told the BBC that Craigavon was already struggling to deal with its own patients.
"There is no logic to the trust considering a reduction of service in Daisy Hill when Craigavon is already overstretched," he said.
The contingency proposals involve preparations in Craigavon hospital to accommodate an additional flow of patients should the Daisy Hill service be suspended at night.
In a statement on Thursday, the Southern Trust said attempts to recruit have been unsuccessful, and the plan is to ensure patients can continue to access "safe, high-quality care".
It is understood that while there should be around 10 senior permanent doctors employed, the trust currently has just two permanent senior medics – with one part-time and the remaining shifts filled by locums.
Last year, more than 53,000 people attended Daisy Hill Hospital's emergency department.
