Northern Ireland’s surgeons force action on hospital reform

At the Southern Trust’s board meeting in January, members were told that emergency general surgery at one of its hospitals would be suspended at the end of February. The service would be halted at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and instead it would take place only at Craigavon Area Hospital some 20 miles away.

The trust’s board was told that, despite numerous recruitment campaigns, only two of six general surgical consultant posts had been filled at Daisy Hill, and that one of those surgeons had resigned and was due to leave their post at the end of February. This had forced the trust and its surgeons to review urgently the way emergency general surgery is provided.

Surgeons from the trust were present at the meeting and argued for the change, explaining that the service has become increasingly fragile in recent times. General colorectal surgeon Kevin McElvanna told board members: “We’re running a sub optimal service across two sites, with big issues for recruitment, retention, and training of staff. There’s been a revolving door of surgeons, particularly on the Daisy Hill site, for a long number of years.”

McElvanna said surgeons and trainees are struggling to carry out enough operations to ensure they are allowed to continue working. He also said the surgical teams cannot deliver “the full gambit of general surgery” at both Daisy Hill and Craigavon Area, particularly as critical care, radiology, and magnetic resonance imaging are based at the Craigavon site. “There are issues for quality of care here and patient safety,” he continued. “There is a need for change, there’s no doubt we have an inequitable service, an unsustainable service at that, and we need to …