Surgeons raise concerns over services in letter to Health Minister
Stormont’s new Health Minister has been warned that failure to modernise surgical services risks limiting access to care.
Surgeons have written to UUP minister Robbie Butler to raise concerns over “significant challenges” facing surgical services in Northern Ireland.
Mr Butler was appointed to the role following the resignation of Mike Nesbitt amid a row with party leader Jon Burrows over the proposed withdrawal of emergency general surgery (EGS) from Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
The Northern Health Trust previously indicated its preference for emergency general surgery to be located at just one of its sites, Antrim Area Hospital.
After Mr Burrows announced that he did not support the removal of the services from Causeway Hospital, Mr Nesbitt – who had not yet confirmed whether he was going to push ahead with the proposal – responded with a hard-hitting resignation letter.
The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI), the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons (AUGIS) and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) say “recent developments” in Northern Ireland risk further delaying the implementation of the review of EGS services in Northern Ireland.
In a letter, they have told Mr Butler that failure to modernise surgical services risks “perpetuating existing workforce pressures, limiting access to care and widening inequalities in patient outcomes”.
They also identify difficulties in maintaining sustainable emergency services and “unacceptable delays in access to both emergency and elective surgical care” as key challenges.
They said: “We are particularly concerned that Northern Ireland continues to experience some of the poorest cancer waiting time performance in the UK, with direct consequences for patients and healthcare staff.”
On the EGS review, the letter states: “Its recommendations reflect the realities of modern surgical practice and are consistent with the direction of travel seen across all four nations, whereby specialised and emergency services are organised in a manner that ensures patients have access to safe, timely, consultant-delivered care.
“The three associations strongly support the principle that decisions regarding the configuration of surgical services should be informed by clinical evidence, patient outcomes, workforce sustainability and population needs.
“Whilst recognising the importance of public and political engagement in healthcare planning, we believe that long-term service transformation must remain grounded in the best available clinical evidence and prioritise the safety, sustainability and quality of patient care, both in elective and emergency settings.”
They called on Mr Butler to implement the recommendations “without further delay”.