Statement by TUV Vice Chairman and East Londonderry representative Councillor Allister Kyle
“On Tuesday evening I along with a party colleague attended the ‘working with you to transform general surgery’ listening group, where we were informed about the Northern Trust’s plans for Causeway Hospital.
“It felt a bit like Deja vu, when I attended a similar meeting regarding the loss of the maternity unit at Causeway.
“It’s hard to see the logic of transferring more patients to Antrim Area Hospital when you only have to look at social media to see how much pressure the staff are already under. In fact, on Tuesday whilst the meeting was being held in the Lodge Hotel, there was a post from Antrim Area, stating that the Emergency Department was ‘extremely busy’ and there were ‘long delays’. It’s not only the hospital staff that are under pressure, ambulances are also in short supply, as are beds.
“More importantly, as the name ‘emergency surgery’ suggests, this is about time constraints. Some people won’t have the luxury of time to travel an additional 38 miles down the road.
“To date, Causeway has lost: in patient mental health; renal services; neurology; maternity; and now is potentially going to lose emergency surgery. Where will this end? There was a unanimous vote cast on the night, with no one in the room wanting to loose emergency surgery at Causeway Hospital. This was a room filled with surgeons and nurses, past and present NHS employees, political representatives and carers who all agreed and stood united in support of our local services being maintained.”
TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston has tabled the following questions on the issues:
To ask the Minister of Health how the potential loss of emergency surgery at Causeway is consistent with his comments to me in the Assembly on 1st October in which he gave an assurance that “Causeway Hospital will remain a key element of the hospital network in Northern Ireland”.
To ask the Minister of Health how waiting times at Causeway A and E compare with those in Antrim Hospital over the past 3 years.
To ask the Minister of Health to list the surgeries perform in Causeway Hospital and the number of each in each of the past 3 years.
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the (i) greatest and (ii) average bed occupancy in Antrim Hospital in the past 12 months.
To ask the Minister of Health if he believes the 8 new surgical beds in Antrim will be sufficient to meet demand if emergency surgery is lost at Causeway.
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the response to the current consultation on emergency surgery at Causeway which would be necessary in order to save the service.
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the number of babies born in ambulances parked in hospital grounds at each of our hospitals in each of the last 3 years and the (i) average and (ii) longest time spent by the mother in the ambulance in the case of each hospital.
To ask the Minister of Health what is the installation date for the promised MRI scanner at the Causeway Hospital.