Call to restore key services at Downe

Call to restore key services at Downe

17 June 2020

HEALTH chiefs have this week reiterated their commitment to restore emergency services at the Downe Hospital.

The confirmation comes after politicians and hospital campaigners ramped up calls to restore a number of key services temporarily closed as part of sweeping changes implemented by the South Eastern Trust in April as part of their response to managing the coronavirus pandemic.

Health chiefs closed the Downpatrick hospital’s emergency department, with critical care staff and some equipment relocated to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald. 

In addition, the Downe’s day procedure unit, outpatients department and minor injuries service were also closed.

The health trust said it had to prepare “for the biggest challenge it has ever faced” and needed to reshape its hospitals and other services on a temporary basis to maximise its ability to “manage the surge in demand for services due to Covid-19”.

With the situation starting to improve and indications that the emergency department at Newry’s Daisy Hill hospital is to reopen after it was temporarily closed by the Southern Health Trust to help manage coronavirus cases, calls are increasing for the Downe’s ED to reopen.

The trust has confirmed that it is “progressing plans” in accordance with the Department of Health’s strategic framework for rebuilding health and social care services. 

And officials have confirmed that as part of the first planning phase, the endoscopy service and other day case surgical work has already recommenced at the Downpatrick hospital’s day procedure unit. 

In addition, they say that further plans for the restoration of services are expected to be published at the start of next month.

However, health officials say they are unable to provide a “definitive timeline” as to when the Downe’s emergency department will be reinstated “due to the continuing threat of Covid-19 and the ongoing planning required”.

In a statement, the South Eastern Trust said it remains its intention to restore the Downe’s emergency department services.

“If the Covid-19 virus continues to present the challenges it currently does, this will require two separate pathways within existing facilities for Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients,” the statement continues. “This will also be heavily reliant on staff availability, which continues to be limited at present.” 

Trust officials say they appreciate the concerns of the local community and the assurances it is keen to receive from them.

“We are working to rebuild services as quickly as possible. As we work to do so, our absolute priority will be to keep our patients, service users and staff safe.” the statement adds.

The health trust’s insistence that emergency services will be restored at the Downe comes ahead of a meeting with a Sinn Fein delegation to discuss the issue.

Spearheaded by South Down MP, Chris Hazzard, the delegation will be seeking assurances that all services will be restored to their previous level.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Hazzard said that due to the pandemic, the local community was left without access to vital services at the Downe due to the health system’s response to coronavirus which “required what amounted to extraordinary measures for an extraordinary time”.

The MP said the Downe was left “unrecognisable” as emergency and outpatient services, amongst others, closed from the end of March. 

“Where required, all available staff and equipment from these units was also requisitioned for use in other parts of the South Eastern Trust area,” he continued.

“In agreeing to the radical reconfiguration of the Downe, the community made a big sacrifice in order to accommodate the unprecedented demands made by both health trusts in the fight against Covid-19.”

Insisting that it was the right thing to do at the right time, Mr Hazzard said there is now an onus on trust management to respond in kind to the community. 

He said the recently published recovery plans have delayed the restoration of vital services to the community, causing significant concern amongst many who fear that “temporary closure might inevitably mean permanent removal.”

Mr Hazzard said the Sinn Fein delegation will be calling for the full restoration of services at the Downe and will also be meeting with the chief executive of the Southern Trust to call for services removed from Newry’s Daisy Hill hospital to be reinstated.

Rowallane DUP councillors are also demanding the full restoration of services at the Downe Hospital, highlighting the importance of reopening the emergency department as soon as possible.

Cllr Billy Walker said it was ironic that within hours of confirmation that the Downpatrick ED would not reopen at this stage, the South Eastern Trust revealed via social media that the Ulster Hospital’s emergency department was extremely busy.

“This is nothing new,” he declared. “There is a clear need for the Downe’s emergency department to reopen now. Having this facility available can help ease the pressure on other EDs and we cannot understand why there is not increased investment in Downpatrick.

“We all understood the temporary closure of services at the Downe to allow health chiefs to respond to the global pandemic, but the time for those services to be reinstated is now. The people of this district demand and expect nothing less,” he added.