Motion: Restoration of Emergency General Surgery

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council notes the lack of action by the Health Minister and the Executive to make any progress on the restoration of Emergency General Surgery at the South West Acute Hospital.

We further note that since the withdrawal of the service, thousands of patients and their families have had to be redirected to Altnagelvin as a result of the withdrawal.

This Council recognises that this is a cross-cutting issue with linked issues around road infrastructure, local business concern, and other social impacts such as isolation of patients being the under the remit of multiple different departments.

Therefore, this Council calls on the restoration of Emergency General Surgery at the South West Acute Hospital to be discussed by the Executive and Council will write to all Ministers within the Executive asking them to raise this as a cross-cutting issue at the next Executive meeting.