The Department of Health is being urged to pause the removal of emergency general surgery services from Newry until a long-term plan for Daisy Hill Hospital is identified in January 2024.
The Southern Health Trust has recommended the department moves the service permanently to Craigavon Area Hospital after it was temporarily removed from Daisy Hill in February 2022.
Newry, Mourne and Down district council members approved an emergency motion on Monday brought forward by SDLP councillor Michael Savage.
He said: “The decision by the Southern Trust at Thursday’s (Sept 28) board meeting to permanently remove emergency general surgery from our acute Daisy Hill hospital has been taken against the backdrop of a democratic deficit on two fronts.
Read more:
- Thousands protest against service reductions at Daisy Hill Hospital
- Southern Trust unveil plan to stabilise services at Daisy Hill Hospital
- Fears for future of Daisy Hill Hospital services as public meeting held to discuss 'crisis'
“Firstly it is a decision that flies in the face of the views of over 11,000 service users and patients across this district who overwhelmingly voiced their opposition to the removal of emergency general surgery from Daisy Hill, 94 per cent of respondents voiced their opposition to this move yet their views and the views of upwards of 10,000 people taking to the streets of Newry have been ignored.
“Secondly, it is a decision that has been taken at a time when we have no Northern Ireland Executive and no local health minister in place to make such seismic and impactful decisions.
“Such a decision taken in this manner makes a mockery of the consultation process, which leaves citizens of this district feeling that there appears to be no such thing as a ‘temporary’ removal of a service from Daisy Hill.
“Again the trust is putting the cart before the horse and ramming through a permanent major cut to services at Daisy Hill before a full picture of the future plans for the hospital have been developed."
Mr Savage added: “I believe that plan can be delivered as early as January 2024, so I think it makes sense to hold off on this decision until the public see how it fits in to the overall picture of transformation of our health service and the envisaged role Daisy Hill plays in that transformation".
