Campaigner warns of 'domino effect' of removal of emergency general surgery from South West Acute Hospital

Dylan Quinn, who made headlines in 2019 by protesting the absence of devolved government with a 90 mile walk from Enniskillen to Stormont, was one of hundreds who formed a ‘human chain’ around the hospital during a protest on Saturday.

The Western Trust announced the temporary withdrawal of emergency general surgery from the South West Acute earlier this month, citing problems recruiting surgical staff.

The Trust has not said when services will resume, and since then at least one surgeon - consultant colorectal and general surgeon Barry McAree – has told the BBC he hopes the move will be made permanent.

Mr Quinn, however, told the News Letter the arguments put forward to justify the decision are disputed.

Speaking on Sunday, the Save Our Acute Services campaigner said: “There is alternative thought. This is not agreed. The South West Acute was originally built on the idea that everyone should be no more than an hour away from care. Taking emergency general surgery away takes that immediate, within one hour, away from the people of Fermanagh and Tyrone.”

Using the example of emergency C-sections for pregnant women, Mr Quinn said: “If a consultant is performing surgery, performing a C-section, and there is a concern – the fact is they will not have medical backup in the room because they don’t have general surgery. What may happen over time is they become nervous, and then they leave because they don’t have the same backup and it becomes a domino effect. The domino effect is one of the primary concerns we have.”

He said emergency general surgery would be too far away: “You would have to be essentially put on ice and shipped somewhere else – Altnagelvin, Craigavon or Sligo. All three are a considerable distance away, and all three cannot cope with extra patients. If you have people from Belleek or Teemore with a bleeding ulcer or a car accident, at that particular time when they arrive in Enniskillen they will have to essentially put them on ice and put them in another ambulance and ship them on to another hospital.”