TUV councillor says Causeway Hospital meeting gave him 'deja vu'

Councillor Allister Kyle said he attended the Northern Trust’s listening group event: “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 [Hospital], 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 lose 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.”