A rally calling for a ‘Christmas miracle’ to keep general and emergency surgery services at Causeway Hospital will take place in Coleraine on Saturday.
Organised by campaign group SOS Causeway Hospital, the march will make its way from the hospital into Coleraine’s town centre and finish at Town Hall.
The rally comes following the end of a public consultation period regarding the transferal of emergency surgery services to Antrim Area Hospital.
Speaking to The Irish News, group chairperson, Gemma Brolly, said that they decided to hold the rally after a series of meetings with the Northern Trust throughout the year.
🎅🏻𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬'𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬!🎄 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡 𝗨𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 & 𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗦...
Posted by SoS Causeway Hospital on Saturday 14 December 2024
“We’re watching centralisation of services into cities and away from areas like the north coast,” she said.
“We wanted to deliver a message to the trust: it doesn’t end here. We’re not going to stop in this.”
The Northern Trust is proposing a reconfiguration of general surgery which would see patients requiring emergency operations transferred to Antrim Area Hospital.
Causeway Hospital’s operating theatres would focus on diagnostic and elective surgeries and it would retain its acute status and emergency department.
They have previously said the proposals are necessary to avoid a collapse of services with current staffing arrangements.
Following the end of the consultation period, Ms Brolly said that the group ‘didn’t feel confident’ that the decision to move emergency surgery services to Antrim was the best decision or that the proposals were safe for the local community.
“We have had stories within our group from people whose lives have been saved within Causeway,” she said.
“We do honestly believe that they know this is not a safe decision at the minute.”
Ms Brolly also stated that SOS Causeway Hospital, which includes retired healthcare professionals in its makeup, has had staff members from the hospitals in question contact them ‘in confidentiality, for fear of their jobs’ in objection to the proposals.
She added that they will be reaching out to the Northern Trust for further meetings in the hope of finding an alternative solution.
“We have asked them to please gift us the grace of listening this time,” she said.
“Let us work as a community and a trust together on this.
“We’re not saying that everything has to stay the way it is.
“We are completely in agreement and applaud the proactive actions in that they want to avoid the collapse that has happened in other hospitals, but we do believe there has to be a better way of doing this and, working together, we will find that way.”
