The Western Trust’s decision to close four of the 10 palliative care beds in Ward 5 of the Tyrone County Hospital, Omagh has been described as a “tactic [that] avoids the need to have formal public consultations and cynically ignores the impact that this will have on users of these services.” NIPSA regional officer Alan Law has said the trade union is “extremely concerned” with the temporary closure of the four beds (until the new financial year), which will begin on Monday, December 15.

Initially, the Western Trust had announced a controversial plan to merge the palliative care and rehabilitation wards at the Tyrone County Hospital. This would have resulted in end-of-life patients moving to Ward 12, an open ward for the rehabilitation of elderly patients. It was one of a number of cost-cutting measures set out by the Western Trust in a bid to meet an overall projected savings plan of £7 million by the end of the financial year.

Following public pressure, the Trust announced last week that it would keep ward 5 open, but, from December 14 until March 31, 2015, it would reduce bed capacity from 10 to six.

Mr. Law responds: “NIPSA is extremely concerned that this programme of temporary closures will result in services not being reinstated. The current plans have been drawn up to plug a hole in the Trust’s finances and there is certainly no indication from the Trust that they will have additional funding next year to allow services to resume.” He adds: “The chipping away of these vital services will inevitably lead to delays elsewhere in the system. This latest announcement blows apart the myth that the Health Service budget has been protected. The Trust acknowledges in the staff consultation document that the impact of these plans “will reduce available capacity”. The Trust’s new tactic of temporary closures appears to avoid the need to have formal public consultations and cynically ignores the impact that this will have on users of these services.” In a letter to The Impartial Reporter in November, former palliative care doctor Rachel Long wrote: “It is a backward step to dilute the presence of a dedicated palliative unit in Tyrone and Fermanagh and I base this on my 36 years both as a GP and as a palliative care doctor.”