| “Local healthcare should always be safe, of the highest quality and be professionally delivered – but it must also be accessible”, says Workers Party representative in Newry / Armagh, Nicola Grant. “There is considerable public concern over the announcement that emergency surgery will no longer be performed at Daisy Hill Hospital”, she said “We have heard promises of ‘temporary’ changes before and they have nearly always proven to be permanent. That cannot be allowed to happen this time. Every time there is a reduction in service there is an automatic suspicion that it forms part of the privatisation agenda”, Nicola said. “It looks like the Southern Trust thinks it can use an administrative solution to address a very human problem”. “This ‘temporary ‘arrangement and any subsequent reconfiguration of services will mean local patients requiring urgent surgery could face a journey of over an hour to Craigavon”, Nicola added. “I have been in contact the Southern Trust calling on them to review and reverse their decision and to bring forward proposals for securing emergency surgery at Daisy Hill”, Nicola concluded. |
Workers Party Northern Ireland 
We cannot afford to allow our health service to be dismantled. Public health before private profit.