The chief executive of the Western Health and Social Care Trust has said there have been a number of doctors targeted with alleged abuse over the removal of emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital.
Neil Guckian told a special meeting of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council that a number of clinicians had been "approached and verbally" abused in supermarkets and on the street as a result of them "siding with management" on the issue.
Mr Guckian and other Trust officials appeared before the special council meeting at the Grange in Omagh to provide an update on the temporary suspension of the service at the Co Fermanagh hospital.
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The chief executive began his opening remarks by referencing what he believed to be negative media attention around the issue.
“I believe it is critical for me again to repeat my request for a positive narrative regarding our South West Acute Hospital,” Guckian said.
“Today I have to report an even worse situation. We have evidence of a number of senior clinicians being approached and verbally abused in local supermarkets and in the streets.
“These are experienced clinicians who have given their careers for the population of Fermanagh. I am sure council will join me in condemning such attacks.”
Later Mr Guckian added: “It’s not easy working in health and social care at the moment…it’s incredibly challenging but when people get singled out in the street mainly because they aren’t voicing disagreement with management, I think is pretty poor.”
There was widespread condemnation in the council chamber for the alleged verbal attacks, which the Western Trust later provided more details on in a statement.
“We are aware of incidents where clinical staff have been approached and harassed publicly both face to face and online over siding with management regarding the SWAH,” a Trust spokesperson said.
“This is totally and wholly unacceptable and the Trust does not condone such behaviour. No HSC staff irrespective of their role should be subjected to such behaviours."
Mark Gillespie, Assistant Director of Acute Services at the Trust, said that 72 patients had been transferred from the SWAH to Altnagelvin since the changes were introduced in December.
He added all but three of those patients had been brought to a ringfenced bed in a ward in the Derry hospital.
A 12-week public consultation on what the Trust calls a ‘temporary, unplanned’ change will be launched next week, with the outcomes to be reported in the summer.
Some councillors provided a scathing analysis of how the Western Trust had handled the issue in recent weeks.
READ MORE: Western Trust confirms suspension of emergency surgery at South West Acute Hospital
UUP councillor Victor Warrington said rather than providing "meaningful engagement" to date, the Trust’s actions have been "shambolic".
Cllr Warrington added: “Instead of being meaningful however, everything from the Trust to date has been shambolic, disorderly and frankly tokenistic
“The Trust are clearly taking the people of Fermanagh and Omagh as fools, to be talking about a consultation on a temporary closure of service, when dogs in the street know that the Trust have zero genuine intention of making anything more than a permanent change.”
The health trust has continued to fervently deny that the suspension of the service was a permanent one, despite previously admitting it was unable to say at what point the temporary change would become permanent.
Difficulty in recruiting consultant general surgeons and the introduction of new hospital standards by the Department of Health last year have been blamed for the suspension.
Independent councillor Donal O’Cofaigh later referred to the Western Trust as a "waste of space" and needed to be "scrapped".
“I want to start by reiterating my lack of faith in the Western Trust, I think it should be scrapped, I think it’s a waste of space and as long as they are in charge of our hospital it won’t have a future in the way it should do,” Cllr O’Cofaigh said.
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