DUP's Wilson suspects Causeway Hospital surgery decision may be 'pushed down the road' until after next May's elections

During September’s Council meeting, DUP Councillor Darryl Wilson successfully proposed that Council call upon the Health Minister to “overturn the decision to remove emergency general surgery from Causeway Hospital” and urgently set out how he intends to protect it as an acute hospital.

The proposal asked for an “urgent” written response from the Minister, setting out what action he will take to retain emergency general surgery, how the challenges facing emergency surgical provision across the Northern Trust will be addressed without “dismantling services at Causeway”, how associated departments, ambulance provision and workforce recruitment will be protected, and what long-term assurances he will provide regarding Causeway Hospital’s future as a strong acute hospital.

Speaking to the motion, Cllr Wilson said he recognises the “genuine challenges” around workforce recruitment and retention, and maintaining safe clinical standards, across both Causeway and Antrim hospitals, but recognising those challenges “does not mean that we should simply accept the Trust’s preferred option without any question whatsoever”.

“Despite some comments about misinformation, it is absolutely not misinformation to say that the preferred proposal would be to remove emergency general surgery from Causeway and centralise it to Antrim,” he added.

“That’s a fact and that is precisely why these questions must be asked and answered.

“I am not asking these questions in isolation; I am being contacted by consultants, surgeons, doctors, nurses, and support staff who have grave concerns about what’s on the table, as do thousands of residents.

“There is also the question of timing, which is of the utmost importance because I strongly suspect that this decision may be pushed down the road to after next May for obvious reasons.

“The questions to the Minister that I propose are as follows; has he satisfied himself that every reasonable option for maintaining emergency general surgery at both causeway and Antrim has genuinely been exhausted?

“If recruitment and retention are central to the case for removing emergency surgery from Causeway, what assessment has been made of the opposite effect; that its removal could make Causeway less attractive as a place to train, work and build a career, and what would this proposal mean for the future of recruitment and retention of staff at Causeway?

“What assessment has been carried out of the cumulative impact of removing emergency surgery on the wider Causeway hospital?

“I would ask the Minister if he can demonstrate that Antrim and Altnagelvin hospitals have sufficient beds, theatres, diagnostics, staffing, and emergency capacity to safely absorb the additional workload.

“And finally, what modelling has been undertaken on the additional demands this would place on the ambulance service, and in journey and transfer times for patients from our rural and coastal communities?”

Cllr Wilson concluded by stipulating that Council must receive a response to the proposal’s questions by the end of the year.