'Outrage' at GP out of hours provision in Mid Ulster

Moneymore man Ashleigh Campbell, who has started a petition, has described the apparent move as “unsafe” and “a disgrace”.

“I only realised this service was no longer local when my one-year-old son took sick and I needed to see a GP on a Sunday morning,” he said.

“Fortunately, I have access to a car and could afford to drive my son 24 miles to Antrim Area Hospital.

“I cannot imagine what others who do not drive would do. Do they phone an ambulance? Risk the life of their child/relative by waiting until their GP surgery opens?”

The ‘Dal Doc’ was relocated from Station Road in Moneymore to the Outpatients Department at Mid Ulster Hospital in December 2019, following a lengthy consultation process involving the local community.

“This service was then silently moved to Antrim Area Hospital, seemingly without any public consultation,” Mr Campbell claimed.

He said the lack of acute local healthcare outside the hours of 8.30am-5pm Monday - Friday “is completely unacceptable and unsafe, it is a disgrace”.

“The communities of Mid Ulster deserve local and accessible acute healthcare.”

The numbers signing Mr Campbell’s petition have been steady growing and it is currently past the halfway mark to a target of 1,000.

“I posted a question on my local ‘Moneymore People’ Facebook page in the hope of getting some answers as I assumed it was a temporary measure,” he continued.

“There has been quite a response on my post and people are outraged too.

“I felt so strongly that I have started a change.org petition and hope people will share it locally to try to get some answers from our government as to why or how this is acceptable. Is it any wonder the Emergency Departments are always under pressure?”

He has also contacted local politicians in the hope that they can intervene and shed some light on the situation.

Responding, a spokesperson from the Department said: “Dalriada Urgent Care (DUC) is the organisation responsible for GP Out of Hours Services (GPOOH) provided in the Northern Area.

“Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing use of remote consultations, fewer patients who contact the GP Out of Hours Services have needed to be seen face to face in an Out of Hours base.

“After a review of infection control, staffing and patient safety issues at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, DUC’s face to face services have been temporarily relocated from Ballymena, Whiteabbey and Magherafelt to the Antrim Hospital site. The Coleraine centre remains on the Causeway Hospital site. This configuration remains due to staff challenges.

“The position remains under review.”

SDLP Mid Ulster Assembly candidate Patsy McGlone said it was "very worrying" that the Dalriada out of hours service has been moved from Mid-Ulster.

"A service which has proven so vital to many, many people, including within my own family in past times. It must be hammered home that “remote” consultations, mainly by telephone, are in the main no overall substitute for one-on-one medical observation and diagnosis, particularly for elderly and medically vulnerable people.

"This move has been done without any consultation with local elected representatives so I have raised the matter directly with Minister Swann. The withdrawal of these medical services, particularly from a large, mainly rural constituency, is simply unacceptable."