Show your support for Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry
Newry and Mourne District Council is calling on all the citizens of the area to give their support to Daisy Hill Hospital by joining in a major rally in Newry City Centre on Saturday 28th March 2015.
The rally will focus on the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to close the excellent stroke unit in Daisy Hill in favour of centralising acute stroke services at Craigavon Area Hospital.
However, the recently released Donaldson report into Healthcare services in Northern Ireland recommended a major reorganisation of hospital services in Northern Ireland with a reduction in the number of acute hospitals.
Rural areas of the district will be particularly hit by centralising of services as the poor roads infrastructure and public transport system mean difficulties for both patients and relatives in accessing hospital services.
The additional transport requirements will place an extra burden on what is universally agreed to be an already overstretched ambulance service. Even if an ambulance is immediately available many parts of Newry and Mourne cannot be reached within the 8 minute target time for a category A life threatening emergency, problems which will be compounded if ambulances are tied up transporting patients to centralised services.
Councillor Daire Hughes, Mayor of Newry and Mourne called on everyone in the area to come out to show their opposition to the downgrading of services at Daisy Hill saying, “Whilst our immediate concern is for stroke services, the Donaldson report, if implemented would pose a significant threat to Daisy Hill’s status as an acute hospital and would put the health and wellbeing of the people of this area at risk.
He added, “We must all come together to show the strength of feeling in Newry and Mourne and that we will fight for the future of Daisy Hill.”
Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=49839
Posted by Newry Times News
on Mar 19 2015. Filed under Community, Politics, What's On.
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