Council wants to hear how Trust reached cuts

Council wants to hear how Trust reached cuts

31 December 2014

HEALTH officials have been asked to spell out the criteria used to determine a series of money-saving cuts at the Downe Hospital.

Down Council is seeking the information as part of a detailed response it is putting together following the South Eastern Trust’s decision to axe seven beds and close the hospital’s dedicated coronary care unit.

Elective surgery at the Downpatrick hospital has also been dramatically scaled back while domicilary care packages — which enable elderly people to live at home —have been slashed by a third.

Health chiefs insist all the decisions are “temporary” and form part of a series of contingency measures designed to save £5m before the end of the financial year.

With Department of Health finances not matching what’s needed to deliver services during the current financial year, a series of health cuts are being implemented across the Province. However, local politicians are concerned the “temporary” cuts will become permanent.

Down Council is to engage lawyers to rigorously scrutinise the South Eastern Trust’s decision-making process to discover if there is evidence which could pave the way for a potential judicial review of the process which led to the cuts at the Downe.

It was confirmed at last week’s meeting of Down Council’s Health Committee that local authority officials are liaising with the Down Community Health Committee ahead of a major public protest on St. Valentine’s Day.

Councillors were told South Eastern Trust chief executive, Hugh McCaughey, has been asked to provide details of the criteria the organisation used to implement service cuts at the Downe.

One of the council’s most senior officials, Gerry McBride, said local authority staff have met with various political representatives, including South Down MP, Margaret Ritchie, to discuss what they are doing to have the Downe cuts reversed.

He also revealed he has been in contact with people campaigning against cuts in other parts of the Province, including those opposed to the closure of Dalriada Hospital.

Council chairman, Billy Walker, said the local authority has a key role to play in the new campaign to have frontline services reinstated at the Downe.

“It is important we meet with Health Minister Jim Wells and leave him in no doubt about the impact these cuts are having. We have all heard the word ‘temporary’ used by the South Eastern Trust and have to ensure it is not a euphemism for ‘permanent’ as that would be disastrous for the Downe,” he added.

Councillor William Dick said Down Council has an opportunity during its “dying days” to leave a lasting legacy by securing the future of the Downpatrick hospital by having the latest series of cuts overturned and additional services delivered at the Downe.

He added: “Little did we think when the new hospital opened just five years ago that we would be back campaigning to retain the services it provides.

“People power will be an important weapon in this fight as we battle to persuade those in power that frontline services must continue to be delivered in Downpatrick.”