Campaign group formed to 'protect essential services' at Altnagelvin
A campaign group has been formed to “protect essential services” at Altnagelvin Hospital.
The move follows numerous cases of patients waiting several days in the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
The chairperson of what he described as a “non-political campaign” will be chaired by Emmet Doyle who said: “SOS Altnagelvin will focus on pressures faced by Altnagelvin both internally and as a result of service reconfiguration such as the suspension of Emergency General Surgery (EGS) from Enniskillen’s South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).
“The closure of EGS in SWAH means pateints are taken by ambulance to Altnagelvin and directly onto a ward whilst numbers grow in Accident and Emergency,” added Mr Doyle.
“We are also concerned about the knock-on effect on staff within the hospital who are doing a fantastic job under extreme pressure.
“A Trust Board plan to cut millions of pounds from their budget is unacceptable and we will not stand by and allow services to be further decimated.
“The campaign group will focus on the care provided to people within Accident and Emergency in Altnagelvin; the impacts the so-called reform of services in other sites is having on our hospital, and demanding action to ensure that services are fit for purpose.
“We will be reaching out to other campaigns in the coming days to offer our support and collaboration on defending services.
A Trust Board plan to cut millions of pounds from their budget is unacceptable and we will not stand by and allow services to be further decimated.
“We intend to hold a public meeting in the coming weeks to outline our concerns, seek support and send the message to Trust management that we will no longer stand by and accept poorly resourced services, cuts and negative impacts on those who want to provide the best care in our health service.”