Forum anger as Western Trust chiefs are grilled by public

While the Lakeland Forum had plenty of empty seats, many of the public who took their places to hear what the Trust had to say – led by Chief Executive, Neil Guckian – were vocal in their opposition to the removal of emergency general surgery at the SWAH.

Before the meeting, Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) held a briefing for members of the public to detail research they had commissioned which detailed the effect the removal of such emergency general surgery would have on the population in Fermanagh.

Shouted down and booed

From the outset, the Trust officials present alongside Mr. Guckian – Medical Director, Brendan Lavery; Acting Director for Acute Services, Mark Gillespie; and Teresa Molloy, Director of Performance and Service Improvement – were shouted down and booed during their presentations, while there were also calls for them to resign.

“Leave the job to somebody who can do it,” shouted one member of the audience, and claims that the consultation process is a sham were heard.

Mr. Guckian told the crowd that the consultation aimed to provide facts and information about the situation, to listen to their views, and to seek out viable alternatives, while Mr. Gillespie, Dr. Lavery and Mrs. Molloy also presented to the audience.

Mr. Guckian and Dr. Lavery spoke out about the difficulties around recruitment while they also mentioned the standards published in the review of general surgery published by the Department of Health as another issue.

On several occasions throughout the presentation, the facilitator asked for people to allow the information to be given out, as the Trust officials were regularly drowned out by shouts from the crowd.

And when the information was supplied, those in attendance had their chance to ask questions – and the criticism was harsh.

“You should all be absolutely ashamed of yourselves,” said the first member of the public who was given the microphone to speak, as she hit out at the Trust management.

“I don’t believe for one second that we could not retain our services. I think that they were totally mismanaged, and [staff] not encouraged to stay,” she said.

Mr. Guckian responded by saying there were multiple vacancies for general surgeons in Northern Ireland, and not just at the SWAH.

The newly-appointed High Sheriff of Fermanagh, Noelle McAlinden, called for respect from both sides of the public consultation.

Other issues raised included the situation around maternity services such as emergency c-sections, the letter from a former general surgeon at the SWAH who claimed that he did not have access to operating theatres during his time there, scenarios about what would happen if a person would require emergency surgery and needed to travel, and resignations at the SWAH.

But at the back of it all, frustrations were constantly raised over the management of the situation by the Trust’s Board.

Fr. Brian D’Arcy called on the Trust to look at their style of management, while local health campaigner, Diane Little, told those in attendance to stop putting the Trust Board “on a pedestal”.

SOAS member Helen Hamill also hit out at what she called ‘mismanagement’ by the Trust, and claimed the people of Fermanagh were “collateral damage” for a better regional organisation of the Trust.

Public hostility

At the end of it all, if the Western Trust chiefs had hoped the public consultation would allay the fears and anxiety of those in attendance, the event clearly did not succeed, such was the consistent level of public hostility and criticism throughout.

With six more in-person events being held alongside two online events as part of this public consultation process, the Trust has a long way to go in convincing the people of Fermanagh what it is doing is in their interests, given the public reception on the opening night.

A second public consultation event was held in Lisnaskea on Tuesday, while further events will be held in Belcoo and Irvinestown over the coming weeks, and in parts of Tyrone as well.