Judicial review opens into Downe A&E change

Judicial review opens into Downe A&E change

12 July 2011

A LEGAL challenge to the decision to axe consultant-led night-time emergency services at the Downe Hospital has begun at Belfast High Court.

A lawyer for Castlewellan man John Duggan — who brought the judicial review — argued the South Eastern Trust had failed to consult properly with GPs about its proposal.

Mr. David Scoffield QC, also argued the Trust failed to consider the impact of its decision on the Ambulance Service and deviated from previous consultations which considered the need to protect rural hospital services.

During opening statements yesterday morning, the lawyer suggested more could have been done to recruit emergency doctors to the Downpatrick hospital.

Night time consultant-led cover at the Downe ended in April this year when the Trust, backed by the Department of Health, replaced it with an out-of-hours GP service between 10pm and 8am.

Seventy five year-old Mr. Duggan was heavily involved in the campaign for the £64m Downe Hospital and is a vice-chairman of the Down Community Health Committee.

In his opening statement, Mr. Scoffield, referred to the Developing Better Services document unveiled by the Department of Health in 2002 for the future of hospital services across the Province.

The lawyer said the blueprint for the future was designed to last well into the 21st century, explaining the document looked at the importance of the so-called “golden hour” in getting critically ill patients to hospital. Mr. Scoffield said accessibility to hospital services for rural communities is an important issue.

The lawyer said the issue is not just about centralisation, or that bigger is best. He said patients want more, not fewer local hospital services, suggesting the South Eastern Trust has really not embraced this issue. The QC said “access is all important when you consider what’s happened at the Downe.”

Mr. Duggan’s lawyer emphasised people are not seeking a “gold-plated service,” simply an essential one and argued there had been a failure to ensure more flexible patterns of working for a hospital that had been built “at considerable public cost.”

He told the hearing: “An extremely expensive building in Downpatrick is not being used as fully as it could be. There was a full A&E facility in the new building. A mere year afterwards, the Trust began to consult on closing down a number of services provided at the hospital.”

He also pointed to “vocal opposition” to the downgrading the Downe’s A&E department in the local community and that there has been a general unwillingness to see the Downe being chipped away.

Mr. Scoffield suggested when the Trust went out to consultation on the future of the emergency department at the Downpatrick hospital it had already indicated its preferred option.

He added: “It is difficult to see a better example of a closed mind. Serious concerns over the proposals had been raised by local GPs who described them as ‘unsafe and unsustainable.’ GPs are not members of the public protesting against the withdrawal of a service.”

At hearing.