Gaelic player calls for Downe A&E to reopen

Gaelic player calls for Downe A&E to reopen

18 June 2014

A DUNDRUM man has experienced at first hand the impact the closure of the Downe Hospital’s emergency department at night is having on local patients.

GAA player Cormac Venney was injured playing for his home club in a game against Drumaness on June 6. The 29 year-old sustained a serious shoulder injury just before 8pm when the emergency department at the Downe Hospital closes.

He was faced with a choice of being taken to either Newry’s Daisy Hill Hospital, the Ulster in Dundonald or the Royal Victoria in Belfast to be treated for his injury. Cormac opted to be taken to Daisy Hill by his father and spent eight hours in Newry before he was treated and discharged.

He said his experience provided him with a “front row seat” of the impact the South Eastern Trust’s decision to axe early evening and weekend A&E services at the Downpatrick hospital is having on patients and staff.

The Trust took its decision at the start of the year due to a shortage of middle grade doctors. The organisation insists the move is temporary and that it is working to recruit the medical staff it needs to work at the Downe.

As a result of his experience, Cormac has urged health chiefs to do everything they can to recruit the staff they need.

He said that given the thousands of people who play sport over the weekend, there must be consultant-led A&E services available in Downpatrick as it could literally mean the difference between life and death

“I have seen the impact the closure decision is having on other hospitals,” he continued. “The staff in Newry were fantastic, but they are clearly under pressure as a result of decisions being made by people higher up the chain of command.”

Cormac claims there were five other people from various parts of South Down and South Armagh waiting in A&E with sports-related injuries while he was at Daisy Hill, one of whom was a 12 year-old boy from Drumaness who had broken his arm.

“Hundreds of GAA players are now involved in games on a Friday night and on a Sunday and there are many other contact sports played across the district when people will inevitably pick up injuries. That’s why we need our A&E department in Downpatrick open.”

“Other hospitals are under pressure at these times and the fact local people are having to travel outside the district for emergency treatment only exacerbates the situation,” he said.

“There are around 44 GAA clubs in Down, so that’s just over 20 games on a Friday night alone involving between 35 and 40 players. Add in the Sunday GAA games and soccer, rugby and hockey and you can see the need for the Downe’s A&E department to be open and available to people who need it.”

Cormac revealed while he was aware there are no A&E services at the Downe at night and over the weekend, he wasn’t fully cognisant of the impact this would have in the local sporting community.

“People having to wait for eight hours to be seen and treated is something that should not be happening. Hospital staff are not too be blamed for this as the decision was taken by others. However, it’s the staff who are left to manage what must be a difficult situation with so many people turning up at A&E.

“I would love the people responsible for axing early evening and weekend A&E services at the Downe to visit emergency departments at other hospitals to witness at first hand the impact of their decision on local people.”

Cormac has also suggested that sports clubs across the district should be lobbying the South Eastern Trust for the full restoration of A&E services at the Downe.

He added: “If something isn’t done, more people will have to travel outside the district at night and at weekends to access emergency department services. Given the geography of our area and the hundreds of sports clubs we have, this should not and must not be happening.”