Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has unanimously demanded a fully independent public inquiry into the Western Health and Social Care Trust’s handling of the emergency surgery crisis at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), and during discussions a further call was made for the Chief Executive, Neil Guckian, to “consider his position”.

Members were referred to a general briefing paper on the SWAH situation supplied by the Western Trust which Councillor Donal O’Cofaigh, CCLA, claimed was not a true reflection of the situation, he claimed: “I feel they are making a habit of being less than open with this Council.”

Highlighting the assertion that the SWAH retains Type 1 Emergency Department Status, Councillor O’Cofaigh stressed: “We all know that requires 24-hour surgical provision on-site.

“The reality is this status is now hanging on the fact there are consultant obstetricians on-site on a round-the-clock basis. That’s very far away from what you’d expect from an emergency department. We do not have the same provision.

“We no longer have urgent or emergency surgery at the SWAH.”

He continued: “Likewise, the Trust deny the existence of the ‘Golden Hour’  [the common belief shared by the public and some medical experts that the first hour after a traumatic injury is when emergency treatment is most likely to be successful], despite the [fact the] Trauma Triage Policy adopted across Northern Ireland in 2015 sets out a 60-minute target for access to emergency surgery.

“Indeed, this was actually reduced to 45-minutes in the last few years. It’s now ‘the Golden 45 minutes’, which was also referred in the stroke campaign. Yet this access is now lost in our area and when quizzed on the 45-minute access time, the Trust seem to believe this doesn’t extend west of the Bann.

“There can be no greater confirmation of our second-class citizenship in this part of Northern Ireland regarding access to life-saving treatment than such a claim. Coming on the back of revelations in regard to wider mitigations, which in reality have collapsed against the context of a sham post-factum consultation exercise, the people rightfully have no trust in the Trust,” claimed Councillor O’Cofaigh.

He proposed the Council write to Department of Health Permanent Secretary, Peter May, and Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris “demanding a fully independent public inquiry into the handling of the current SWAH crisis by the Western Trust and the circumstances surrounding what they have created”.

This was seconded by Councillor Eamon Keenan, Independent, who said: “The Trust still claims the closure of emergency general surgery at the SWAH is temporary, while showing us no actions or measures they are taking or planning.

“They are continuing to advertise for four consultant general surgeons to be based at Altnagelvin Hospital, not at the SWAH, claiming this will maximise the capability of elective care.

“This is not a solution. It actually seems like a plan to permanently close emergency surgery at SWAH.”

He too remarked on the ‘Golden Hour’ “which the Western Trust say is now defunct and out of date [as a concept], but the Trauma Triage Policy states 45 minutes is a safe travel time for emergency surgery”. He continued: “By their own admission – in my view – it seems the Western Trust never intended to reopen emergency surgery at the SWAH and is willing to do this by disregarding current safety guidelines.”

The SDLP’s Councillor Paul Blake agreed, telling members: “We need the Permanent Secretary to step up and call for a full public inquiry into the Western Trust’s mismanagement, which we’ve seen and highlighted.

“There was a sham of a public consultation, and we still haven’t seen any minutes [from the public consultations over the SWAH]. We need them in full without any redactions, because as already stated, we don’t trust the Trust. Mr. Guckian really needs to consider his position, because as a Council, we really struggle to have any confidence in him.”

Councillor Diana Armstrong, Ulster Unionist, stated: “I fully support a public inquiry into the management of the Western Trust and the actions which have led to this.

“It should also look at why the two most recently built hospitals are in the south of the Western Trust area, and how they are led to this position.”

The proposal passed unanimously.