Health union launches petition to save Causeway Hospital services while campaign groups call for action
A public service trade union has launched a petition saying Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital is ‘at a critical moment’.
The Causeway branch of UNISON started an online petition, saying: “The removal of maternity services and now the looming threat of losing emergency general surgery is stripping away our essential services.”
In a post on social media, the union said: “Maternity services have already been lost, and now proposals to remove emergency general surgery raise serious concerns about the future of emergency and acute services for the North Coast.
"This hospital serves thousands of people, local families, workers, businesses and the many visitors who come to our area each year. The community deserves safe, sustainable local healthcare – not the gradual loss of vital services.”
The petition calls on Health Minister Mike Nesbitt “to reconsider the impact of these decisions on thousands of lives. Reinstate Maternity Services in Causeway Hospital and oppose the removal of Emergency General Surgery”.
Meanwhile, the campaign group SoS Causeway Hospital met recently with Department of Health officials to discuss what they called the ‘failure’ of centralising maternity services to Antrim Area Hospital.
In a post on social media on, July 3, the group said it highlighted ‘clear evidence’ of ‘delays, red escalation events, missed observations, corridor waits and severe staffing pressures’.
"Our message was simple: Removing births from Causeway was a mistake. Centralising emergency surgery risks repeating it. Safety must come before politics and patient voices must shape every decision.
"We urge the public to keep reporting concerns. When stories are shared, they cannot be ignored.
"Causeway Coast and Glens patients deserve safe, high quality care. Staff deserve to be truly heard and valued. Your testimonies are vital.”
The rural campaign group Farmers For Action (FFA) have also requested an urgent meeting with Minister Nesbitt on behalf of Rural Hospitals NI.
William Taylor FFA said: “This has become very urgent, due to a lack of creditable information coming from in particular the Northern Trust in connection with Causeway Hospital, trying to keep rural hospitals open with viable services A&, maternity and many more vital services, is turning into a battle that should not be in question!”
The Department of Health has been contacted for comment.