Members of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are demanding an urgent meeting with Minister for Health Robin Swann following a statement around the fragility of emergency general surgery services at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), which were raised during a meeting two weeks ago, but quickly played down.

Published on the Department of Health website, the Minister’s statement acknowledged concerns but stressed “no decision has been made and no recommendation has come to me from the [Western] Trust Board”, continuing: “I have emphasised no stone is to be left unturned in ongoing recruitment efforts.”

Councillor Adam Gannon, SDLP, said: “Some members accused people of scaremongering, misleading and grabbing a headline. I hope there’ll be no more accusations.

“The Trust say it’s about recruiting and maintaining the workforce. It’s not – it’s about pay and conditions. The funding is there, so they obviously need to change the pay structure. The Trust and the Minister cannot abandon people in Fermanagh.”

Ulster Unionist Councillor Victor Warrington responded: “I don’t take on board everything said by Councillor Gannon, and refute some of it. 

“It’s no secret SWAH has problems recruiting staff. There’s nothing new here. There’s a major problem and there will be stern questions for the Western Trust.”

Councillor Seamus Greene, Sinn Fein, remarked: “This excuse of not being able to get doctors to come is a false argument. As for Minister Swann, I’ve lost patience.

“I believe he must be hiding under the same table as Liz Truss. He only appears when there’s bad news forced out of him, which this Council did.”

Councillor Donal O’Cofaigh, CCLA, described the statement as “a heavy blow, and it’s hard to state just how devastating this is going to be”.

He continued: “Some councillors have attacked me every time I’ve raised this. They blame the Press. They’ve sought to excuse Ministers. 

“But there’s no running away from the severity of what this means. We retained services at the old Erne Hospital in the middle of a conflict, but can keep none of them today. Where are human rights, equality and parity of esteem? Our communities have been totally and utterly let down.”

Councillor Emmet McAleer, Independent, said the Minister “must be dizzy from the amount of U-turns undertaken”,

The SDLP’s Councillor Paul Blake, who brought the matter to members’ attention two weeks ago, said: “I have been proved correct. I wasn’t scaremongering or seeking publicity. If there was any misleading, it wasn’t just to the public, but also politicians, by getting them to issue statements. That has played out. 

“We need an urgent meeting with the Minister. After two weeks scrambling and trying to deny what we said, I want to know how much the Minister was aware of this.

“There also needs to be stern words with the Western Trust Chief Executive. I’ve no confidence over the complete lack of will to deliver for this area.”

Councillor Josephine Deehan, Independent, supported the call for an urgent meeting with the Minister, while Councillor Mary Garrity, SDLP, felt: “We’ve asked for meetings on numerous matters. There’s also lack of engagement and avoidance with some from the Western Trust.”

Chief Executive Alison McCullagh confirmed meetings have been sought on a number of occasions, including when the SWAH issue was first raised two weeks ago, adding: “We have made multiple requests on a variety of issues, including emergency surgery, and none have been acknowledged.”

In conclusion, members unanimously agreed to call for an urgent meeting with the Minister around the long-term future of the SWAH, while expressing concerns over the lack of meaningful engagement, given the number of requests for meetings with no response.