Stewart warns that there could be nothing temporary about some of the latest health cuts.
Ulster Unionist East Antrim MLA John Stewart has called on the Northern Trust to stop deceiving local patients about the nature of some of the cuts it has announced to patient services across County Antrim.
John Stewart said:
“When it was announced in 2014 that the Minor Injuries Unit at Whiteabbey Hopsital was temporarily closing, few people expected to ever see it open again. Indeed, the doors of the unit had barely closed before the Trust went in and stripped out most of the equipment and furnishings; effectively rendering it useless. It came as no surprise therefore when a year later the Trust broadcast the temporary closure would in fact be permanent.
“Many people fear some of these latest so-called cuts will face the same fate. The Northern Trust needs to be honest with the patients, staff and local people on whether or not they ever envisage the return of rehabilitation services to Whiteabbey Hospital, and the reinstatement of the 44 beds they plan to close in only a few weeks time?
“Many of the cuts announced by the Trusts right across Northern Ireland are short-sighted and are simply designed to save the most amount of money in the shortest period of time. Patient safety, including the shameful impact more delays are going to have on people already stuck on hospital waiting lists, has clearly been disregarded.
“Across County Antrim the Northern Trust is reporting that it would usually have an extra £2 million coming in as it approaches the busy winter period, yet instead they are being asked to save £13 million! I’m genuinely fearful how our hospitals will cope if there is a major outbreak of the flu, or if the weather is even slightly colder than usual.
“The Trust have also reported a proposed reduction in spend on locum and agency staff resulting in bed and ward closures. They also plan to look at domiciliary care meals, car parking charges and private ambulance.
“These are only proposals at this stage but will be implemented if additional funding cannot be found quickly. My thoughts are with the staff who will naturally be very concerned by this.
“It is absolutely disgraceful that many of these cuts could be avoided if Sinn Fein & the DUP could set aside their differences and get the Stormont Executive back up and running. It also raises the question, what happened to the additional hundreds of millions that was secured for the NHS following the deal to keep Teresa May in power? People and medical staff that I have spoken to over recent days are losing faith that they will ever see it.
“Following the Trust publishing its so-called savings plan, I immediately requested meetings with the Northern Trust and Civil Servants to discuss what I consider to be a real threat to even basic patient care. Rest assured both I and the Ulster Unionist Party will be lobbying hard to fight against the worst of these cuts in services across East Antrim and Northern Ireland.”
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