DUP's Frew questions 'perverse' health service delays in reaching decision about Causeway Hospital services
The new health minister is remaining tight-lipped about how he will decide the future of services at the Causeway Hospital, as a DUP MLA hits out at how long it has taken the Northern Trust to compile reports on the matter.
Robbie Butler took charge of the health department (DoH) after his predecessor Mike Nesbitt quit earlier this week, over a dispute with leader Jon Burrows.
The Ulster Unionist Party boss said he would never accept the removal of emergency general surgery from the Coleraine hospital – a position Mr Nesbitt couldn’t accept.
Final proposals are expected to be brought in front of the Minister Butler in weeks, rather than months. A decision will then have to be made whether to accept or reject the Northern Trust’s position that the Causeway service is unsustainable, and should close.
DUP North Antrim MLA Paul Frew, whose constituency is served by the hospital, has questioned the delay in getting all the information needed before the minister for a decision. He is asking why the Northern Trust had made the recommendation before it had provided the minister with all the information.
He told the News Letter “It seems perverse to me that the DoH is still awaiting further information from the Northern Trust on a recommendation they made over a year ago.
“Why has it taken the Trust so long, and how does their recommendation now stand up a year in? What has changed in the year since and what other measures must be put in place?
“These are questions that the trust must address and both the DoH and the new Minister must be satisfied with.
“This is just one of the reasons the people from the Causeway area have so little faith in the Trust”.
A Northern Trust spokesperson said: “The Trust has been working with SPPG and other partners to assess the system-wide impact of the proposed change, and to finalise the business case for the proposed investment into elective surgery on the Causeway site”.
The News Letter asked the DoH what criteria the health minister would use to make his decision on the future of emergency general surgery at the Causeway hospital. They did not respond.
This week, the UUP leader Jon Burrows suggested his party would take a different approach on the issue. He said it is “simply not acceptable” that people in areas like Fermanagh or the north coast “are kept in the dark about the reasons for change of services”.
Mr Burrows also said his party needs “to reconnect with the public… and we need to have the courage to listen to people around this country and deliver for them”.
On Thursday, the DoH’s top civil servant Mike Farrar told Stormont’s health committee the process around emergency general surgery services at Causeway Hospital is not yet complete.
He told MLAs that the department has, for a number of years, been looking to ensure that the standards that are set for general surgery across Northern Ireland are in line with best medical practice, are able to meet demand and respond to new technology.
He said a review published in 2024 indicated that the current range of services and where they were provided did not meet those standards.
In response, he said the Northern Trust then looked at their services to meet those standards, and carried out a consultation.
“It’s important to put on the record that no proposals (in relation to Causeway) had been taken at this point to ministers and no decision had been taken,” he told MLAs.
Deputy Secretary Tracey McCaig said she is not prepared to name a date for a decision but suggested they were close.
“We have a number of things to close out, but I can tell you that it’s very advanced and it’s almost at a final position,” she said.
“I know I’ll be able to get to a position I hope on a recommendation timetable soon, but as to what happens after that, that will be out of my control.”
Meanwhile, DUP communities minister Gordon Lyons said his focus was “purely on the patients and those that rely on the health service”.
“It’s up to Jon Burrows to address the difficulties that he’s had internally and the problems that he has had with his colleagues and with Mike Nesbitt and what led to his resignation”, he said.
Minister Lyons added: “I’ll certainly be doing everything I can to work with him in a positive way to make changes so that we can actually deliver for people and get a better health service”.