Four Cuban doctors could be on their way to Fermanagh, raising hopes of a return of emergency general surgery to the local hospital.
Representatives from the Cuban Embassy met remotely with Western Health and Social Care Trust officials on Wednesday, with a number of councillors also attending.
The preliminary discussions closed in on the possibility of four general surgeons being deployed at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).
Emergency general surgery was suspended at the hospital in December due to a staffing shortage and an inability to recruit doctors. Patients have to travel to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry or even Belfast.
While members of the trust international recruitment team told the meeting it normally takes nine months to complete the process of hiring a doctor from abroad, one local councillor said it may take less time with the Cuban medics.
Independent Councillor Eamon Keenan, who attended the meeting, said the Cubans have so much experience working overseas securing accreditation may be much less of a problem.
“It really depends on the qualifications and where they are accredited and they may already have many of the documents needed,” Mr Keenan said.
“But I am very, very happy this is moving forward, all the councillors are.” The meeting was brokered by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.
While it may take as long as nine months before the doctors are on site and working, the local representative said even this was “better than nothing”.
“Hopefully it will be sooner than that,” he added.
The Western Trust confirmed members of its International Medical Recruitment Team met with a counsellor of the Cuban Embassy and councilors.
This meeting was to discuss the proposal...to ask the Henry Reeve Brigade (Cuba) to help at South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen, the trust said.
“The Trust emphasised that the Henry Reeves Brigade was not appropriate in respect of the workforce position at South West Acute Hospital," a spokesperson said.
"The Trust temporarily stood down Emergency General Surgery at SWAH in December 2022 due to challenges recruiting general surgeons to cover the emergency general surgical rota.
"It was clearly stated by both the Trust and the Cuban Embassy representative the Henry Reeves Brigade intervene to help in Natural disasters, etc. which this is not.
“The Trust highlighted the established and successful work carried out in the Trust’s International Medical Recruitment Programme in attracting 209 international medical consultants to the Trust, 86 to SWAH, up to the end of March 2023.
"The team highlighted the standards required, including that any appointee must have GMC registration with a licence to practice in the UK, and the processes that international recruitment involves.
"Therefore, it was agreed that appropriate links would be made between the Trust’s well established International Recruitment Programme team and Cuban Medical Services to explore and consider the viability of this moving forward.”
The meeting was held amid continuing public concern over the over the future of certain services at the hospital.
Public meetings organised by the Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) campaign group are continuing ahead of an April 10th deadline ending public consultation on on the future of emergency general surgery at the facility.
More than 30,000 signatures were gathered by the campaign group and handed over to the trust on Wednesday.
Following the approach to the Cubans, the embassy in London responded positively, asking for more information on what staff and specialities were needed.
Cuba has a huge number of doctors, around 100,000, and many of them work in dozens of countries across the world, including responding to disasters. It also a way for a country under a six decades-long US embargo to raise hard currency.
Doctors in the country earn little more than the average monthly wage of approximately 4000 Cuban pesos but can make substantially more working abroad. However, there are multiple reports the Cuban government takes a large cut of any money countries are prepared to pay for the health services.
Cuba has almost 50,000 medical professors, more than 100,000 doctors and around 100,000 nurses. With an average of nine doctors and nine nurses per 1,000 inhabitants, Cuba has among the highest number per head of population in the world. Northern Ireland has 0.7 doctors per 1,000 people.
