'Shameful' closure of Mid Ulster High Dependency Unit marked by demonstration
THE Mid-Ulster Hospital, which pioneered the intensive care scheme in the United Kingdom 50 years ago, this week saw its High Dependency Unit (HDU) axed by the Northern Health Trust.
A small demonstration was held at the hospital entrance by Save the Mid Community Group, who are currently mounting a legal challenge to the re-organisation of services which included the shutting of the A&E.
Group chair Hugh McCloy described the closure of the HDU as "shameful".
He said the hospital should be preserved as a place of special interest and its medical services developed instead of being destroyed "at the stroke of a pen."
"The hospital developed two critical services - it was the first in the British Isles to pioneer the intensive care scheme and was first in Northern Ireland to introduce ambulatory care for children in the 1990s," he said.
He called on the Trust to develop services and attract more quality staff instead of axing services and endangering the lives of the people in Mid-Ulster area.
A spokesperson for the Northern Trust said they were not aware of the legal challenge from the Save the Mid Group.
She said when the Trust received details of the challenge, it will be dealt with accordingly.
"We are moving forward with the reform of the acute hospital services and that has been reflected in the waiting time figures for the month of June," she continued.
"We are delighted to report that in the month of June, the period since emergency services transferred from Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey hospitals, there have been no 12-hour breaches at Antrim A&E.
"In terms of meeting the four-hour waiting time target, Antrim is now achieving around 85 percent. Minor injuries services at Whiteabbey and Magherafelt are seeing 100 percent of patients within the four-hour target.
"Phase two of the reform programme includes the re-profiling of the High Dependency Unit at Mid Ulster Hospital to match the level of care to need.
"We will be using the newly refurbished ward two to provide enhanced care supported by additional staff training and equipment. This level of care will be appropriate for the people who will be admitted to the hospital".
It was in June 1960 that the MAIL revealed that the Hospitals Authority intended funding an "experimental scheme" which it believed would revolutionise the hospital service.
The scheme, involving concentrated care of seriously ill patients using the best staff and latest medical equipment, was similar to one in operation in a hospital at Cincinnati, USA.
The surgeon at the Mid-Ulster Hospital, Wilfred Brennen, said the scheme, if successful, would have a marked influence on the future of hospitals not just in Ulster but in Great Britain.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 7 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
