A Fermanagh man living with Crohn’s Disease has spoken of his concern about the suspension of emergency surgery at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).

‘Peter’ (not his real name) was diagnosed with the disease more than 30 years ago and had to have emergency and life-saving surgery at the old Erne Hospital due to the disease.

“I was diagnosed when I was 35,” Peter explained. “I was nearly dead. I had lost so much weight and was so weak and in fact, my insides started to become gangrenous, which is fatal for a patient.

“And it was a surgeon in the Erne Hospital who said, ‘We have to have a look inside’, and he looked inside and removed bits and pieces, and it was life-saving surgery, there’s no question about that. 

“So I am very grateful to the medics in the surgical team in the old Erne Hospital for what they did, because I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them.”

Due to his disease, Peter has had three further planned surgeries, the most recent being in 2017, but he admits that it is likely he will require further surgery, and if so he wants to know if emergency surgery is required, and will everything be in place to ensure he gets the treatments he needs promptly?

“I am probably actually due more surgery now, but the surgeon is loathe to do it because he thinks I have lost so much of my gut I could do without losing any more, and he’s said to me, ‘If you have an emergency, then we will deal with it then’,” Peter explained.

“The kind of emergencies I would face in that situation would be a very severe blockage of my gut, which could then also lead to a leakage of the gut in the body cavity, which causes peritonitis, and then the other possibility is some kind of strangulation of the gut. 

“All of those are very serious conditions that require very quick surgical intervention,” he added.

Outlining what happens when he begins to feel unwell, Peter says he usually tries to deal with it at home, but there does come a time when he needs to go to the hospital.

In a case where there are emergency surgery services available at the SWAH Peter knows he would be seen in good time. But with this no longer an option, he questions what happens then?

‘Further processes’

“If I have to go to another regional hospital – to Altnagelvin or Craigavon or somewhere else – then you are talking about further processes in all of that, so you are talking about having an ambulance available, possibly a member of staff accompanying me, because if you are very ill that might be necessary, and then there’s the journey to where you are going.

“Then the other concern at the other end is if they have space, and almost certainly with this kind of emergency, you would need a high-dependency or Intensive Care bed, so would they have that bed available in those other hospitals, given that they are already under significant pressure?

“That’s the kind of pathway and journey I would be anticipating, and quite frankly it is a very real anxiety for me.”

Peter feels there has not been clear communication from the Trust on these steps, and this has led the local population to lack confidence in accepting the decision.

“That pathway and the various steps of getting to another centre, which has by no means been explained to the local population, would enable us to understand and get some reassurance.

“If I was to take my chances on an uncertain journey to a destination that might not be able to give me the treatment that I need, or [had the chance to] have surgery locally here in the south west, I know what I would choose,” he said.