Give us back our A&E

Give us back our A&E

LAST week’s public meeting in Downpatrick heard calls for a public inquiry into the delivery of health services in Northern Ireland.

The young and the old also demanded the return of weekend and early evening services, making the point that no one knows when they need a hospital. That’s why the return of early evening and weekend A&E services is so crucial.

Former trade unionist and Down councillor Malachi Curran said he was privileged many years ago to serve on the committee which fought to secure a new hospital in Downpatrick, but is now greatly concerned at what’s happening at the £64m building.

Mr. Curran said the campaign for a new hospital was successful because of the publicity it secured. He said the campaign for the restoration of early evening and weekend A&E services at the Downe must generate the same level of publicity explaining “you can’t get enough of it.”

He urged: “Stand up, speak up and shout about this issue and people might listen to you. Demand from your elected representatives the creation of a committee to look at the operation of the health service in Northern Ireland.

“So much of what we have heard tonight is absolutely disgraceful. Look at the recent debacle at the Royal Victoria Hospital when patients died on trolleys. How are people allowed to get away with this?”

Mr. Curran added: “Let’s demand a public inquiry and let’s go forward as a united community. We have the guts for a fight as we showed 30 years ago. Let’s do it again and we may well have our A&E unit reopened sooner than we think.”

Gerard Forward, of the Streetsafe group based in Ardglass, said the A&E issue affects people in the village and right across the entire district. He also called on Health Minister Edwin Poots to sack the South Eastern Trust’s senior officials over the failure to recruit doctors to work at the Downe.

He added: “Posters we have made say ‘our community, our people, whose hospital?’ but we are are going to change them given the strength of the people here tonight. From now on, our posters will read ‘our community, our people and our hospital.’ Our group will keep fighting until we have a 24-hour A&E service at the Downe.”

Lucy Connor revealed how the Downe Hospital saved her young sister’s life following an accident involving a bouncy castle when the six year-old fell off and ended up lying in a pool of blood.

“My sister’s eyes were rolling in her head and had it not been for the Downe Hospital she would not be here today. Thankfully she is now okay,” said Lucy.

She added: “It’s not just up to the politicians to save our hospital, it’s up to every single person in this room to get out and support this campaign.

“Senior people in the health service are prepared for what politicians have to say, but what can they do if everyone in this rooms stands with the politicians to make our case? We need to go out there to have our A&E service restored. We will not be defeated.”

Ballyculter farmer John Carson said there have been so many accidents on farms recently that the agriculture industry needs all the hospital services it can get, suggesting his animals get a better service than local people.

He added: “If I go to call a vet I can get one in 15 to 20 minutes, whereas we on the farm, or any other local person in the area, could have to wait at least an hour before we arrive at accident and emergency department.

“Fifteen years ago we would be blaming direct rule ministers for what’s happening at the Downe, but tonight it’s our own local ministers that must be held accountable for what’s happening. We are not going to lie down on this issue.”

St. Patrick’s Grammar School head girl, Cathy Curran, said the Saul Street campus is used widely by the local community throughout the week, highlighting the need for them to have access to a local emergency department service if required.