Lifesaving services at centre of hustings

Lifesaving services at centre of hustings

20 April 2016

LOCAL people fear lifesaving services will be out of reach when an emergency happens, politicians have warned.

Speaking at a debate on health at the St Patrick Centre last week, the SDLP’s Colin McGrath said people in the district told him they feel like “second class citizens” because of cutbacks in local health care.

Mr McGrath, who was one of seven Assembly candidates taking part in the debate, told the audience the Downe Hospital was “the single most important issue” raised during canvassing.

In comments greeted with a cheer by the audience, he said many people were frightened a full range of services to help in “their hour of need” was not available locally.

He said he knew of instances where elderly people had fallen in the street and waited 1.5 hours for an ambulance as well as many cases of long hospital waits, which he said led to a “sense of injustice.”

“I share the pain and I have met Minister after Minister to ask that the Down be adequately resourced,” he said.

“I have family members who would be dead if it was not for the accident and emergency at the Downe Hospital. The retention of services at the Downe means something personal to all of us.”

Independent Unionist candidate John McAllister told the audience that 20,000 people who attended a public rally demonstrating their support for the Downe last year showed the significance of the issue.

He said the Downpatrick hospital should be a “redline issue in the next programme for government.”

Accepting that the Ulster Hospital is the main acute hospital for the area, he said the Downe should be fully used as a support to the Ulster, fulfilling a large percentage of local health care.

TUV candidate Henry Reilly pointed out that the local hospital service was “fantastic” throughout the Troubles before being downgraded by consultants dedicated to “cut, cut, cut.”

“Basically the message was, for hospitals like the Downe and Daisy Hill, to get rid of them, they were past their sell by date,” he said.

“That did not work, there was public outrage.”

Mr Reilly said England now had district general medical hospitals like the Down as local centres of excellence to support larger units.

“The Downe Hospital is a red line issue. We must maintain it and enhance it to the same level as the district hospitals in England,” he said.

Alliance candidate Patrick Browne vowed, if elected, to fight to see the Downe Hospital fully reopened and returned to acute hospital status.

He said it was striking that four out of 11 accident and emergencies in Northern Ireland are in Belfast.

“I also want local people to be able to rest and recover in a hospital closer to home than an hour away and where family do not have to queue for an hour to get parked,” he said.

“We meed to get better at managing our health service.”

Sinn Fein candidate Chris Hazzard said his party was committed to the founding principals of  public health service and said health reform was already underway to secure a more streamlined service. “We must see the protection of rural communities such as the Downe during that process,” he said.

Ulster Unionist candidate Harold McKee said the NHS was increasingly depending on charities to offer support to patients.

He said he had recently visited the Downe Hospital where he was disappointed to a see a “£64m hospital sitting and not properly utilised.”

Despite overwhelming support for the Downe, DUP candidate Jim Wells issued caution about its future and said he, as former Health Minister, had a good insight of the difficulties faced by officials, including the impossibility of finding middle grade doctors to staff Downpatrick’s accident and emergency.

“It would be so easy for me to come into this room and promise the sun, the moon and the stars,” he said.

“It is becoming more difficult to attract physicians to the Downe. We could not attract middle grade doctors to work for the hospital.

“People do not see the Downe as an attractive option; if the Trust could find those staff it would be delighted.

“There is a crucial role for the Downe Hospital. We could well reach a situation where the Downe has more procedures than it ever had.

“Is the DUP committed to the Downe? Of course we are, but we have to understand there are difficult forces there that are causing real problems.

“Will we get a return to what we want? I think that would be very difficult.”