Big thank you from Lisburn.com

This is the right model for lagan Valley Hospital
and the right model for the people of Lisburn'

by JULIE-ANN SPENCE

The launch of the campaign back in September last year.

The launch of the campaign back in September last year.

Support your local Hospital

Support your local Hospital

THE campaign to restore 24 hour emergency cover at the Lagan Valley has ended in victory with Health Minister Edwin Poots poised to approve plans by the SE Health Trust which will allow people to go to the hospital at any time of the night or day.

The Minister has welcomed proposals agreed by the Trust Board on Wednesday to provide extended opening hours less than a year after the service was dramatically cut because of a shortage of junior doctors.

The new scheme will see the opening hours at the emergency department extended and an enhanced GP out of hours service provided at the site. Mr Poots said he is keen to give the go ahead as soon as possible, It is estimated it will cover 97% of the patients who would have been seen in the old system with the less serious treated on site and those who need more specialist treatment being transferred to the Royal or the Ulster.



Ministerial approval is the final hurdle for the long running campaign spearheaded by the Star and Lisburn City Council which received unprecedented support from the people of the Lisburn area. Thousands signed a petition and told their stories of why the service was so vital.

The new model will be implemented in phases, beginning with an extension to the current opening hours from 8am until 8 m, Enhanced GP services will be introduced and in the longer term, the Trust will be submitting a business case aimed at securing funding for a capital build project to co-locate
the GP out of hours at the A&E. The Trust have made it clear that with public support the scheme will help sustain the Lagan Valley Hospital for the foreseeable future.

Mr Poots said: "I very much welcome the recommendation of the Board that the Lagan Valley Hospital should operate on a 24 hour basis once again," he said. It will cover 97% of those patients who would have used the service before the reduction in hours last year. I believe what is being proposed is a sustainable model for the future and that it is fundamentally important for the well being of the Lagan Valley Hospital and the people it serves.

In the longer term there are significant opportunities for the Lagan Valley and I believe that this step is significant in ensuring its future role, which can be enhanced over what is currently being provided for the local population."

The Chief Executive of the South Eastern Trust, Mr Hugh McCaughey, said he was "very pleased" with the proposal and thanked local people for their input throughout the consultation process.

"I see this as an evolutionary process," he continued. "We will change into a model which will see the vast majority of patients treated safely and well."

Mr McCaughey added that he was 'very keen" to see primary health care, in particular local GPs, located at the hospital site in the near future.

The Director of Hospital Services for the Trust, Mr Seamus McGoran, added: "This is the right model for the Lagan Valley Hospital and the right model for the people of Lisburn."

Health Minister Edwin Poots

Health Minister Edwin Poots

Chief Executive of the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust Mr Hugh McCaughey

Mr Hugh McCaughey

We're winning

We're winning

MP welcomes go ahead for 24 hour hospital access

MP Jeffrey DonaldsonLAGAN Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson has welcomed the news that the proposals to reinstate 24 hour access at Lagan Valley A&E have been approved by the South Eastern Health Trust Board.

"I am delighted that the Board have now approved the business plan put forward by the Trust and hopefully now this will clear the way for, not only the reinstatement of 24 hour cover at the Lagan Valley, but also an enhanced, integrated primary care and hospital service that will be for the benefit of everyone in the Lisburn area."

He continued:
"The aim is to get to the situation where if you walk into your GP and you need further examination, you will be able to do that in a much more efficient way without having to wait a long time for appointments.

"In the future hospital services will be better integrated with GPs at primary care level," he concluded.

julieann.spence@ulsterstar.co.uk

Ulster Star
01/06/2012