Letter: Causeway concerns over emergency general surgery are same in Fermanagh and Tyrone community
A letter from Save Our Acute Services:
The recent coverage of the proposed removal of Emergency General Surgery (EGS) from Causeway Hospital has struck a deep chord with many people in Fermanagh and Tyrone.
As campaigners with Save Our Acute Services (SOAS), we recognise only too well the concerns being voiced by communities on the North Coast.
Much of the debate around Causeway, should it lose EGS, centres on travel times, access to lifesaving treatment, an ageing population, ambulance availability, tourism and the wider impact on rural communities.
These are precisely the same concerns that have been raised repeatedly about the loss of emergency general surgery at South West Acute Hospital which happened nearly four years ago and which was decided by senior civil servants when Stormont was ‘down’.
The argument around accountability is not lost on anyone when these facts are considered.
The people of Fermanagh and Tyrone continue to face some of the longest journeys in Northern Ireland to access emergency surgical care, with many travelling more than 100km to reach treatment in their hour of need.
Meanwhile, our population is ageing rapidly, with the number of residents aged 65 and over expected to rise by 28% over the 2020 to 2030 period.
If geography, rurality and timely access matters for people using the services of Causeway Hospital, they matter much more so in Enniskillen.
Communities across Northern Ireland deserve consistency and fairness in healthcare planning. Patient safety, local access, and rural needs should always play a critical part in any of these decisions.
The voices of the people are currently disconnected from what policy makers high up on ‘the hill’ are recommending. Let’s change that and start listening to the people.
“Hope, not fear” is the new health minister’s sincere motto. But in Fermanagh and Tyrone we live in fear; patients fear distance and delay; families fear another avoidable death, and staff fear the consequences of speaking up.
Hope is not a substitute for accountability. Nor is it an answer to staff, patients and their families whose fear has been learned through experience.
Save Our Acute Services (SOAS), Fermanagh