Skip to Main Content Skip to Site Map Skip to Accessibility Statement
Home Public Representatives 2025

Public Representatives 2025

Contact for MLAs, MPs, Councillors and Public Representatives:

Chris Curran
Public Affairs, Relations and Engagement Manager
Western Trust Single Point Of Contact for MLA, MP, Councils, Public Representatives
Communications & Digital Media Manager

Or

Oliver Kelly, Head of Communications

Individual Constituent Enquiries by email only (Consent form must be provided)
  • Individual Constituent Enquiries by email contact please use the following method of communication:
    Email: Madonna McGinley, Chief Executives Office, at Madonna.mcginley@westerntrust.hscni.net
Out of Hours URGENT Contact only: outside of 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday
  • Out of Hours URGENT CONTACT only: Please telephone the Out of Hours Number on 075 2589 7187. (Out of Hours: outside of 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday)

Briefing Sessions, Meetings and Engagement with MLA and MPs

Requests for MLA, MP or Public Representative meetings or engagements with the Western Trust Chief Executive or senior staff in the Western Trust must be requested via email to: chris.curran@westerntrust.hscni.net and madonna.mcginley@westerntrust.hscni.net.

MLA & MP Briefing Session 2025 as follows:

  • Friday 24 October, 2025, 11am-12.30pm

(includes All MLA/MPs – Western Trust Chief Executive together with all WT Directors will be present at this meeting)

    • Final Agenda, presentation and papers will be issued by email to MLA/MPs ahead of the meetings. If a MS Teams Link is required this will also be issued.

In addition to the above Full MLA/MP Briefing Sessions in the calendar year (2025), we will be holding individual smaller party group meetings from May 2025 to September 2025, lead by Chief Executive, Neil Guckian, and I will be in contact to arrange these meetings in the diaries.

All-Party Group for South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen

The above full MLA/MP Briefing Session dates are separate to the SWAH All Party Group Meetings which are scheduled as follows below.

These APG Meetings include the Trust team of Neil Guckian (Chief Executive), Dr Brendan Lavery (Medical Director), Mark Gillespie (Director of Planned Care), Prof Ronan O’Hare (Deputy Medical Director), Prof Monica Monaghan (Divisional Clinical Director, Associate Professor Royal College Surgeons Ireland), Oliver Kelly (Head of Communications) and Chris Curran (Public Affairs, Relations and Engagement Manager).

Next Meeting of the SWAH APG:

      • Friday 21 November, 2025, 11.30am
      • This will include a MLA/MP Walk-around to some service areas and meeting staff ahead of the meeting. Details to be confirmed ahead of the meetings.
  • 03/09/2025: Update regarding Red Flag Breast Cancer Assessments

    In response to longstanding concerns regarding waiting times for breast cancer services, the Minister commissioned a regional review in September 2024 to explore more effective models of service delivery across Northern Ireland.

    As part of this review, breast referrals in Northern Ireland were regionalised to address longstanding disparities in waiting times across different Health and Social Care Trusts. Patients are now prioritised by clinical need rather than postcode and offered the earliest available appointment across Northern Ireland’s five breast assessment units.

    As part of this new service delivery and in line with the same system as other Trusts, the Western Trust continues to triage referrals locally, including those flagged as red. Once a patient meets the red flag criteria, their case is passed to a centralised booking team managed by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. This team coordinates appointments regionally, offering patients the earliest available slot across the five designated hospital sites. After assessment, patients return to their home Trust for any necessary treatment.

    Any further enquiries in relation to this service should therefore be directed to the Department of Health.

    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Statement:

    The Health Minister acknowledges that many patients will feel anxious as they wait longer than they should for assessments. The Minister is committed to reducing waiting times across the system and embedding the changes that will lead to better outcomes for all patients.

    In 2024 a regional review was commissioned and in May 2025 breast referrals were centralised to create a fairer system. Patients are now prioritised by clinical need rather than postcode and offered the earliest available appointment across Northern Ireland’s five breast assessment units. This was absolutely the right thing to do.

    While this reform ensures greater fairness, it does not remove the overall pressure on services.

    The Department has secured £5m recurrent funding to expand core capacity, with additional clinics, workforce planning and use of the independent sector all being progressed. The situation is being closely monitored, and every effort is being made to improve access to timely and appropriate care.

    To Note:

    • The earliest available appointment can be offered at any of the five breast units:
      • Altnagelvin Area Hospital
      • Antrim Area Hospital
      • Belfast City Hospital
      • Craigavon Area Hospital
      • Ulster Hospital Dundonald
    • Patients will continue to be referred and triaged by their home Trust, with those meeting red flag criteria passed to a regional booking team managed by the South Eastern Trust. Patients will be contacted directly and offered the earliest available appointment anywhere in the region, with the option to wait for a local slot if preferred.
    • After assessment, patients will return to their home Trust for any necessary treatment. Support with travel may be available for eligible individuals, and a new regional breast pain service is also being developed to help ease demand on assessment clinics.
    • Around 4 in every 100 women screened are referred for further assessment.
    • The Department of Health is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the breast cancer pathway to deliver long-term improvements in quality, equity and sustainability.
    • The Department continues to monitor the situation closely and is committed to improving access.
    • The Minister has been clear through the Reset Plan that transformation is essential to: Reduce variation and inequalities across Trusts; Deliver fairer, more consistent access to services; Build resilience and sustainability into health and social care and Achieve better outcomes for patients
    • May 2025: Press Release: ‘Health Minister launches new regional breast cancer assessment’ on the Department of Health website

     

  • 01/08/2025: Update on Third Year Student Nurses Interviews

    Following a number of enquiries regarding the post interview feedback and employment opportunities for the nursing graduates of 2025, please note below the following update for Public Representatives on this matter.

    Similarly to last year, the Trust was engaged with the other four Health and Social Care Trusts in a regional process to recruit the student nurses expecting to graduate from September 2025.

    The BSO Regional Recruitment Team on behalf of the five HSC Trusts administered this process. Student nurses were invited to apply and register a first preference Trust.

    The first preference choices were shared with the Trust in May 2025 and the Trusts Human Resources and Senior Nurses held the interviews on the week commencing 9 June 2025. All candidates were informed that they were appointable and that the interviews were to help determine their ranking to inform the allocation of posts. Other Trusts have followed similar processes.

    During May 2025, senior nurses from the Trust engaged with the final year student nurses in Ulster University and Queen’s University to explain the processes that would be used to recruitment them. The message was clear that there would be employment opportunities but not all available at the point of graduation.

    The Western Trust was delighted to receive such a high volume of first preference choices. A total of 236 candidates across all the fields of practice- Adult Nursing, Children’s, Mental Health, Learning Disability and Midwifery participated in interviews to determine their rank on each respective waiting list.

    Vacancy Position.

    The Trust is familiar with the process that sees a large volume of nursing graduates in September each year and has managed their employment over a period of months in previous years. The number of vacancies, particularly in adult nursing, mental health, hospital and community, is lower at this stage in the year than in previous years.  It is important to note the funding position and number of posts within the nursing workforce has not reduced.

    Vacancies will emerge, however, during the incoming months and these positions will be offered to the nurse graduates of 2025. The Trust had taken the decision to pause recruitment of registered nurses with experience in April 2025 to maximise the employment opportunities for the graduates.  In addition to this the Trust has also paused our International nursing recruitment Programme as we continue to work with our nursing graduates.

    Staff Turnover.

    The Trust experiences a level of staff turnover each year in the range of 150 – 170 Band 5 nurses and this can create employment opportunities for new graduates. This however will occur over a period of six months based on our experience from previous years.

    Contract Agency

    The Trust is continuing in its actions to manage the reduction in the utilisation of contract agency nursing staff.

    Mental Health, Learning Disability and Children’s Nurses.

    The WHSCT is in a position to offer immediate employment to all Learning Disability and Children’s Nurses who expressed a first preference for the Trust.

    I trust this update sets out our current position on the processes which remains consistent with the region and which we follow to employ student nurses each year and we hope this provides you with sufficient information to feedback to your constituents if you have any enquiries.

    Any further Enquiries:

    If you have any further enquiries regarding the above two matters or have any other general enquiries regarding Western Trust services then please feel free to contact our public affairs manager, Chris Curran directly. Contact details are below for all Public Representatives making direct contact to the Western Trust.

  • 01/08/2025: Homecare Provision Update following the non-extension of contract by independent contractor, North West Care, in Lisnaskea, Irvinestown and Enniskillen

    Homecare Provision Update following the non-extension of contract by independent contractor, North West Care, in Lisnaskea, Irvinestown and Enniskillen

    The Western Trust currently holds contracts with 3 separate independent sector providers to deliver homecare services in the geographical areas of Lisnaskea, Irvinestown and Enniskillen. The three providers are Care Plus, Lakeland Community Care and North West Care.  The Trust’s in-house homecare service also has a presence in these areas.

    This contract was awarded in 2017 initially for up to five years.  All providers have since agreed three separate contract extensions beyond the original term. However, ‘North West Care’ has now indicated that they will not accept a further extension beyond the expiry date of 30 November 2025 in these geographical areas.  The Trust is now making arrangements to ensure that we continue to accommodate North West Care service users going forward.

    North West Care has worked with the Trust to deliver homecare services across Fermanagh for the past eight years but have now informed the Trust of their decision to cease their provision of homecare services in the Fermanagh areas at the end of their current contract –as stated as 30 November 2025.

    Whilst this decision is beyond the control of the Trust, we would like to reassure all our service users of our commitment to their assessed care provision by implementing the Trust’s contractual management plans for homecare provision. This means that the two other independent providers, Care Plus and Lakeland Community Care, are now engaged with the Trust in this process. The Trust is therefore working with all three providers and will implement the transfer of homecare provision in the areas on a phased basis throughout the next number of months.

    By working in partnership with the Fermanagh homecare providers and with the community social work teams, the Trust is committed to ensuring that as far as possible the needs of our homecare service users continue to be met.

    It is important to emphasise that while individual service users currently supported by North West Care will experience a change in homecare provider, there will be adjustments required to the wider homecare provision as services are reorganised to accommodate this change in these areas

    We are therefore currently communicating with all service users in these three geographical areas currently receiving homecare services and informing them of this change and how it may affect them. This will be a general communication to ensure openness and transparency with all our service users. Additionally our Community Social Work teams will also inform affected service users specifically of any impacts and their future care arrangements.

    As we work through this transition with all service users and staff from North West Care to their new care provider arrangements, we understand they may have some concerns during this period and we greatly appreciate everyone’s cooperation and understanding. All service users have been advised that if they are having any issues or concerns, to please contact their social work office.

    We would also like to acknowledge and thank North West Care for working with the Trust to provide homecare services in the Fermanagh area for many years.

    The planned changeover will take place across the three localities as per the schedule below:

    Locality Effective Date*
    Lisnaskea – this area covers Lisnaskea, Newtownbutler, Roslea, Maguiresbridge, Tempo, Clabby, Fivemiletown, Brookeborough and Lisbellaw.  

    15th September 2025
    Irvinestown – this area covers Irvinestown, Kesh, Ederney, Lack, Dromore, Derrygonnelly, Boho, Monea, Lisnarick, Ballinamallard, Fintona, Garrison, Belleek, Belcoo and Letterbreen.  

     

    13th October 2025
    Enniskillen – this area covers Enniskillen, Kinawley, Derrylin, Teemore, Bellanaleck and Florencecourt.  

    10th November 2025

    *dates could possibly be subject to change.

    The Trust is currently undergoing a tender process for homecare provision in all areas of the Western Trust, including Fermanagh, where new final homecare tender contracts will be agreed and implemented in the months ahead.

    Dr Maura O’Neill

    Director Community & Older People’s Services

  • 16/07/2025: Western Trust Statement

    Western Trust statement – 16 July 2025

    Emergency General Surgery (EGS) Consultation

    The Western Trust following a high level risk assessment, in the interest of public safety and due to the anticipated numbers attending took the decision on 11 July 2025 to postpone the first consultation event for the proposed changes to Emergency General Surgery in the Trust area at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen on Tuesday 15 July 2025.

    The Trust issued a postponement notice on the 11 July 2025 to all those who registered on the Eventbrite system and communicated this publicly through the media, online channels and public representatives.

    Regrettably a follow up automated reminder was issued in error via the Eventbrite system on 15 July 2025 to those people who had registered for the Killyhevlin event after the event had been postponed.  The Trust took immediate steps to make contact with the people who received this reminder to alert them to the error. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

    Given this week’s developments and listening to public opinion the Trust is now in the process of resetting its consultation approach and have decided to postpone the planned event at the Waterfoot Hotel, Derry/Londonderry on 17 July 2025. We want to ensure the consultation is inclusive and engaging for all individuals, groups and organisations.

    The Trust wants to engage with as many people as possible in in a meaningful and engaging way and provide the time and space for them to have their voices heard.

    Information with respect to next steps will be published as soon as details have been confirmed.

  • 11/07/2025: Emergency General Surgery Consultation Update

    Consultation on Emergency general Surgery in the Western Trust Area – 15th July

    Whilst we are pleased with the high level of interest in the public events for the consultation on Emergency General Surgery in the Western Trust area, following a high level risk assessment based on the anticipated numbers registering to attend and in the interests of public safety, the Trust has taken the decision to postpone the event on 15 July 2025 in the Killyhevlin Hotel.

    We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

    We are keen to engage with as many people as possible in a safe and suitable environment and therefore are committed to organising three face to face events in the Fermanagh area, 1 in the Tyrone area and 1 in Derry/Londonderry. These additional public events, alongside the virtual event and targeted engagements are designed to provide the time and space for everyone to have their voices heard.

    New dates for the consultation events will be publicised as soon as possible. These will be ticket only events.  For reasons of public safety these will be ticketed only events and we cannot provide access to people without a registered ticket.

  • 10/07/2025: Emergency General Surgery Consultation Update

    10 July 2025

    We can confirm that the Changing Emergency General Surgery Public Consultation Session, scheduled for Tuesday 15 July 2025 at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen is now fully booked.

    Anyone who attends the public consultation sessions on Tuesday 15 July (Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen) or Thursday 17 July (Waterfront Hotel, Derry~Londonderry), should have registered via the Trust’s website and have a ticket for the event. In the interest of public health, safety and security, we cannot go over the venue capacity. Therefore it is important that you do not attend if you are not registered for the event.

    We are pleased with the response to date and we are keen to engage with as many people as possible over the 14 week period of the consultation. We are committed to ensuring the public have every opportunity to attend a public consultation session, either face to face or virtually.  We want to reassure anyone, who wanted to attend Tuesday’s event, that we will now hold a second face to face Session in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area. Details of this date will be issued as soon as possible on Trust channels.  The Trust has set up a ‘waiting list’ on Eventbrite for anyone who wanted to attend Killyhelvlin but was unable to get a ticket.  The Trust will be in contact with those that have registered on the waiting list to inform of any future public events.

    Whilst the consultation session in the Killyhevlin Hotel on Tuesday 15 July is fully booked, there are still spaces available for the face to face consultation session on Thursday 17 July at the Waterfoot Hotel and the virtual consultation session on Wednesday 27 August. There will be at least one additional face to face consultation event given the level of interest in Tuesday’s event.  We will be flexible during the consultation period to ensure effective engagement with all impacted groups.

    The Trust has significant learning from the previous consultation on the temporary change to EGS at SWAH.  This was discussed with the Patient Client Council (PCC).  During our meeting we highlighted that a targeted engagement approach was a more effective means of consultation.  It is important to clarify that the PCC did not tell us how to consult or approve the content of our plans as this is the responsibility of the Trust.

    For more information or to register for events please visit the Emergency General Surgery Consultation Page

  • 08/07/2025: Launch of Emergency General Surgery Consultation

    Consultation on Permanent Change to Emergency General Surgery in the Western Trust to be launched

    The Western Trust is proposing that all Emergency General Surgery services for the Trust’s area are delivered from the Altnagelvin Hospital site on a permanent basis supported by Ambulatory and Elective General Surgery on both the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) and Altnagelvin Hospital sites.

    The proposal to consult on this was approved at a meeting of the Western Trust’s Trust Board on Thursday 03 July 2025 and the consultation will be formally launched on Tuesday 08 July 2025 for a period of 14 weeks. The consultation will close on 14 October 2025 and the outcome of the consultation will be considered at a Trust Board meeting thereafter.

    Since the 19 December 2022, as a temporary measure, in response to difficulties in recruiting and retaining consultant general surgeons resulting in the inability to sustain a 24/7 consultant rota, the Western Trust consolidated Emergency General Surgery to Altnagelvin Hospital to maintain the safety of the service for all patients. Ambulatory surgical services were established at both the South West Acute and Altnagelvin Hospital sites at this point.

    Speaking at the Trust Board meeting, the Chief Executive, Neil Guckian said:

    “Since the temporary suspension of Emergency General Surgery at the South West Acute Hospital, patient pathways put in place have been working effectively and there has been no evidence of any patient safety concern.

    “The Trust has carefully monitored all aspects of the temporary change throughout the past 31 months and independent data indicates that patients who require Emergency General Surgery that come to Altnagelvin for their treatment, have better clinical outcomes.

    “The publication of the Review of General Surgery – Standards and a Way Forward (June 2022) set the regional standards to ensure the best clinical outcomes for patients who need Emergency General Surgery. It is not possible to meet these important safety standards in SWAH. Our Surgical team advises that delivering all inpatient Emergency General Surgery from the Altnagelvin site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week is the only way we can safely meet these regional standards.”

    Mark Gillespie, Director of Surgery, Paediatrics and Women’s Health said:

    “It is important that I say to the public that the provision of acute services at the South West Acute Hospital is a top priority for the Trust, and it will remain an acute hospital site with 24/7 Type 1 Emergency Department services, full resuscitation facilities, ICU and is part of the major trauma network. SWAH has a wide range of vibrant medical specialties and is a teaching hospital.

    “The Trust supported by the Department of Health remains committed to the long-term development and vision for SWAH, which has been evident in the success of the Regional Elective Overnight Stay Centre. SWAH is delivering its full commissioned elective capacity and we want to expand that.”

    “I know there is a tremendous depth of feeling on this locally and I would encourage everyone to respond to our consultation document.”

    The Trust’s Medical Director, Dr Brendan Lavery said:

    “An independent organisation called CHKS analyses all hospital admissions in Northern Ireland, England and Wales and provides outcome data which can be used as safety measures for patient care. This has shown that mortality or risk of death has decreased since the temporary suspension of Emergency General Surgery in SWAH with approximately one life being saved every 40 days. Surgical complication rates have fallen by 17.1% and readmissions after 30 days is significantly below that of our previous service in SWAH. All of the available independent data has shown improved clinical outcomes for patients with surgical pathology who would previously have been cared for in SWAH.”

    The Public Consultation is open to 14 October 2025.

    In addition to responding to the consultation document, the Trust will be holding two face-to-face public consultation sessions on the proposed permanent changes to Emergency General Surgery across the Western Trust area. The sessions will take place on:

    • 15 July 2025 at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen from 7pm to 9pm
    • 17 July 2025 at the Waterfoot Hotel, Derry/Londonderry from 7pm to 9pm

    To register to attend any of the events – see details on the EGS Consultation Page

    In order to facilitate everyone the Trust will also be hosting a further virtual online event:

    • 27th August 2025 from 7:00PM – 9:00PM

    Visit the Emergency General Surgery Consultation Page

  • 25/06/2026: £4 million lost to Health and Social Care

    Over 18,200 outpatient appointments were wasted in the Western Trust last year due to patients/clients not turning up for their appointment. This is lost clinical capacity and it impacts on the efficiency and productivity of the Western Trust’s Outpatient’s Service.

    From 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 the total number of patients who did not attend their Consultant outpatient appointment, or failed to give staff sufficient notice to make the appointments available to other patients, in our hospitals across the Western Trust area was 18,206 . Each missed appointment costs the Trust £220 which equates to £4 million lost to our health and social care budget.

    To help reduce non-attendance, the Trust has in place a system for booking outpatient appointments, where patients are given a choice of dates and times and they can select one that best suits them. Patients attending outpatient appointments across the Western Trust area receive a SMS text to their mobile phone or an automated voicecall to their landline, reminding them of their outpatient appointment three days prior to their appointment. The Trust also offer the ConnectWest App which allows for online messaging which includes out of hours communication with the booking team.

    Paul Doherty, Assistant Director of Surgery, Paediatrics & Women’s Health said:

    “We understand that there are many genuine reasons why people are not able to make an appointment however, as these figures show every missed appointment is a lost opportunity for someone else to be seen.  The appointment slot is actual time with a member of our clinical and nursing staff who are dedicated to patient care.

    “We are asking for the public’s cooperation in reducing non-attendance for hospital outpatient appointments so that valuable resources and staff time is not wasted, as this will have a significant impact on already overstretched health service.”

    “Where possible we would ask patients with an appointment to let the hospital know if they won’t be able to attend and to do this at the earliest opportunity and at least 24 hours beforehand. This will provide the booking team with time to fill the slot with another patient who has been referred for treatment and care.”

  • 07/04/2025: 30 days to historic health and social care encompass milestone & Update Brief

    On 8 May 2025, Northern Ireland will mark a significant moment in health and social care history as the Western and Southern Health and Social Care Trusts officially Go-Live with encompass, the electronic health care record.

    This key milestone will make Northern Ireland the first region in the UK to have all Trusts using one unified digital system.

    The encompass programme, which has been progressively implemented across Northern Ireland since November 2023, replaces outdated paper records with real-time up-to-date digital information accessible to all those involved in delivering care. For the first time, every citizen in Northern Ireland will have their own digital health and social care record.

    As part of this transformation, all patients and service users across Northern Ireland will have the option of accessing parts of their own healthcare records via the secure online patient portal called My Care.

    With less than one month to go-live, Teresa Molloy, Director of Planning, Performance, and Corporate Services at the Western Trust and Senior Responsible Officer for encompass said: “As we approach the final stages of readiness for encompass go-live, I want to pay tribute to all of our staff and teams for the huge effort they have made in delivering all aspects of this programme over many months. This collective effort means that we are well prepared for the transition to this new way of working, transforming the way we provide care, and making the change as seamless as possible for our staff and our patients and clients.”

    As the Southern Trust makes its final preparations for implementation Dr Stephen Austin, Medical Director added: “Since starting our encompass journey around three years ago, a huge amount of energy and effort has gone in to getting us to our current state of readiness. Thanks to the hard work of all staff right across our organisation. This is an exciting time for the Southern Trust as we embrace this digital transformation. We look forward to realising the benefits of a paper light health and social care system with real-time access to information which will ultimately help to improve service user experience and outcomes.”

    Dr. Dermot Hughes, Senior Responsible Owner for encompass, emphasised the significance of this achievement: “The completion of the encompass rollout across each health and social care trust is a landmark for Northern Ireland as a whole, positioning us as a leader in healthcare innovation, with an integrated digital system that prioritises the highest quality of patient care and safety.”

    “encompass has already demonstrated its potential to transform healthcare delivery in the South Eastern, Belfast and Northern Trusts, and the Southern and Western Trusts are proud to join their counterparts in embracing this digital future.”

  • 12/02/2025: New ENT Surgery begins at the South West Acute Hospital

    The Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) welcomes the introduction of the new Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Day Procedure surgery, which started at the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen this week.

    Professor Ronan O’Hare, Deputy Medical Director for the Western Trust expressed his delight at the introduction of the new ENT Surgery at the hospital.

    “We are delighted to welcome the first theatre list of six patients to attend for their ENT day procedure at the South West Acute Hospital on Tuesday 11 February 2025. This new surgical list undertaken by Mr Reddy, ENT Consultant Surgeon at the Western Trust will become a weekly list.”

    “The ENT list, along with the recent introduction of the Breast Surgery and regional Paediatric General surgical lists are a welcome development for the utilisation of theatres at the hospital. We are acutely aware of the long waits for patients who have been waiting for surgical procedures across the region and we hope to continue to develop services here for the benefit of our local population.”

    Speaking about their six year old son Ryan’s experience mum Caroline and dad Justin Donaghey from Ederney explained:

    “Ryan’s hearing has deteriorated over the past two years. Ryan attends a Speech and Language Unit at Holy Trinity PS, Enniskillen. Ryan has grommets fitted this morning and we hope this procedure will help his hearing and speech and improve his learning.

    “We received a telephone call on Friday to say that Ryan was on the emergency cancellation list and offered the procedure today at the South West Acute Hospital. This has worked out great with the mid-term break and Ryan won’t be missing any time off school and he will be able to recover at home this week with his brothers and sister looking after him!

    “It is brilliant that this procedure can be carried out locally at the SWAH. We would like to thank Mr Reddy, ENT Consultant Surgeon and all the theatre staff for their excellent treatment and care to Ryan, Thank you.”

    Also speaking about her 10 year old son Caolan’s procedure mum Katie Cinnamond from Brookeborough said:

    “I brought Caolan in for an ENT procedure this morning and I have to say it is great to have our local SWAH delivering this new service on our doorstep.

    We live in Brookeborough so this is only a short drive to the hospital. It is wonderful to hear than ENT surgery will now be delivered in our local hospital.  I wish to thank all the ENT team for their care for Caolan today. Thank you.”

  • 29/01/2025: Statement - Publication of RQIA Report - A Review of the Pathways Associated with the Temporary Suspension of Emergency General Surgery at South West Acute Hospital.

    Dear Public Representative,

    Please note below the following statement from Chief Executive, Neil Guckian, following today’s Publication of RQIA Report – A Review of the Pathways Associated with the Temporary Suspension of Emergency General Surgery at South West Acute Hospital.

    Western Trust Statement:

    We welcome the RQIA report and its recommendations following their review of the patient pathways resulting from the temporary suspension of Emergency General Surgery (EGS) at South West Acute Hospital.

    We fully engaged in the review process and are reassured that the review supports our own findings that there have been no patient safety concerns arising from the temporary patient pathways.

    We are pleased to report that work is already underway to achieve the recommendations and good progress is being made regarding their implementation.

    This change has not been without challenge for both the local population and our staff, particularly given the immense pressures the entire Northern Ireland hospital network has been under for quite some time now. I wish to thank our patients for their understanding and pay tribute to all our staff at South West Acute and Altnagelvin Hospitals who provide high quality care to our patients.

    We are aware from our own engagement and as stated in the RQIA report that access to ‘direct to ward’ admission is the area of greatest concern for SWAH EGS patients. The Trust has continued to reduce the numbers of patients who transfer by ambulance from SWAH ED, but need to go through our ED at Altnagelvin before being admitted to a bed.  Since May this year, an average of 79% of General Surgery patients who come to Altnagelvin from SWAH ED go directly to a bed. However, it is important that all decisions to admit patients are based on clinical priority, and the sickest patients will always be allocated beds preferentially. As a result of our improvements over the past number of months, only very small numbers of patients experience a transfer from one ED to another.

    The Trust did not choose to suspend this service lightly, it could no longer be safely maintained without permanent Consultants.  Any Trust would prefer a planned and managed change rather than the emergency suspension of a service, and in these circumstances there will be learning to take forward for the region. It is important that we look at outcomes for patients when assessing the impact of the change.  Patient experience is important for all our services but our over-riding priority as healthcare providers is to keep patients safe and ensure their clinical outcomes are not worse from such changes. This is something that has been carefully monitored throughout the past two years and will continue.  The independent data that we have indicates that emergency general surgery patients who come to Altnagelvin for their general surgery treatment have good outcomes, and these have not worsened as a result of this change.

    The Trust, supported by the Department of Health remains committed to the long-term sustainability and development of SWAH. We have been working collaboratively at local and regional level to build our elective capacity, developing a safe and sustainable model for general surgery across the Trust and are pleased to have secured new appointments on Trust wide contracts to provide a stabilised and resilient General Surgery Consultant workforce.

    Neil Guckian,

    Chief Executive

    Western Health and Social Care Trust

  • 28/01/2025: Update on Car Parking on the Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Site

    Following on from our last car parking update on the work to introduce ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) and remove paid car parking on our hospital sites from May 2026, the following update now relates to go live of our second site with our new Traffic Management Contractor from next week (3rd February 2025).

    From Monday 3rd February the Trust’s new Traffic Management Contractor will go live with the Car Parking Enforcement on the Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Site. The team will work with site users during these early weeks to support safe and effective access and parking, and where appropriate this may mean issue of warnings for first offences for the less serious infringements.

    The Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex has adequate parking spaces available therefore it will remain a fully managed /enforceable site. This means no unauthorised parking on the site is permitted.

    Site Management Team

  • 28/01/2025: Dromore GP Practice access

    To Note: Domore/Trillick GP PRactice is one of the Trust run GP Practices.

    Following Storm Eowyn, Dromore GP Practice continues to have no internet access or phone lines available.

    The Trust continues to work on this as part of the ongoing recovery process following Storm Eowyn.

    For this reason, the Trust are continuing to operate out of Trillick GP Practice with a reduced service.

    The Trust is working closely with BT to resolve the issue and hope to have a further update soon.

  • 27/01/2025: Western Trust Response and update information on community Major Incident following Storm Éowyn

    Following the very significant impacts and disruptions associated with Storm Éowyn, and throughout the weekend, we continue to remain in major incident mode at this time. With many of our communities still without power we wish to highlight that our staff continue to work above and beyond to support those most vulnerable in our communities.

    Our Community teams continue to remain in contact and provide care to our vulnerable clients and those with critical care needs and we also encourage all those who are vulnerable and remain without power, to make themselves known to NI Electricity.

    Moving forward throughout this week, the Western Trust will continue to support our vulnerable clients as our role continues to be to support those clients known to our Services. There has now been a ‘Humanitarian Assessment Cell’ setup regionally and this sub-group is chaired by the Department for Communities, whose role is to deal with other vulnerable clients through the Community Hubs – see our link below for the latest list of Community Hubs in the Western Trust area.

    Each Council will have their own list and continue to update those on their own channels. We have continued to share important messaging from our Council partners in respect of centres open and providing assistance to the public and would encourage further sharing of these messages on public channels.

    We would like to assure you that our teams continue to ensure critical and essential services are delivered as we recover from Storm Éowyn, supported by our partners, in these continued difficult circumstances.

    The following provides some detail in terms of how the Western Trust has activated plans to deal with this major incident:

    Preparedness

    • Primary Care and Older People’s Care and Community teams and divisions held regular planning, business continuity meetings, safety huddles throughout Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 January 2025.
    • Patients who were reliant on community equipment were contacted in advance of the storm to check registration on NIE vulnerable list.
    • Community Nursing teams reviewed where their staff lived and, if at all possible, local staff provided cover in their local area on Friday.
    • District Nursing provided essential calls on Friday and those staff scheduled to work on Friday worked on Saturday instead.
    • Community Respiratory Nurses, on duty on Friday and over the weekend, contacted their vulnerable clients by telephone to provide guidance and reassurance. They also liaised with BOC as required.

    During the weekend

    • The Trust continued to hold Trust Silver meetings every day and attended regional Vulnerable cell calls with NIE, chaired by SPPG, and liaising with partners regularly on our vulnerable clients.
    • District Nursing teams continued to identify their vulnerable clients and scheduled visits to these clients on Friday and throughout the weekend.
    • Additional static mattresses where held in Omagh, Fermanagh & Derry. These were then provided to those clients who did not have any power (or means of power such as a generator) over the weekend.
    • The Trust teams dealt with a significantly large volume of enquires from NIE and Public Representatives – MLA, MP and Councillors.  For concerns raised by public representatives on a patient’s behalf the Trust, through our District Nursing and other on call teams, contacted and/or visited these patients.
    • Community nursing on-call was enhanced/extended over the full weekend for continuity and expertise.
    • Community nurses had to be transported by families and also had to drive additional miles to navigate road closures to access palliative patients.
    • Social support was provided by District Nursing to those clients who were unable to receive  the scheduled call from their carer.
    • The On Call Manager contacted families and/or District Nurse where a request for a mattress (or if an issue with a mattress) was reported to estate colleagues. In some cases were required, they visited the patient’s home to make sure that the patient was okay and what support the client needed.
    • The Trust cross-referenced the vulnerable client list provided by NIE with the vulnerable clients held by Community Nursing. These clients are being followed up by relevant District Nursing Teams.
    • Where vulnerable clients were deemed a priority, their information was escalated to the S.P.O.C. and forwarded to NIE.

    Moving forward…

    • Trust staff will continue to support our vulnerable clients and will do so during the week as our role continues to be to support those clients known to our Services.
    • The Sub-group chaired by the Department for Communities has the role to deal with other vulnerable clients through the Community Hubs – we have updated this on the Trust’s Storm Éowyn public website page – Storm Éowyn: Information and Updates | Western Health & Social Care Trust – but this information is shared for each area and updated directly by the Councils. We would encourage elected representatives to continue sharing the Council information and links directly on this.
    • If your issue is urgent please use our Phone first service – The Phone First triage service is available on 0300 020 6000. In an emergency, always call 999.
  • 27/01/2025: Update on Car Parking for Altnagelvin Hospital Site

    Please note the following update in respect of Car Parking Update for Altnagelvin Area Hospital site. The Trust Communication Update (attached) has been issued this afternoon to all Trust Staff.

    You will be aware all Health and Social Care Trusts are making arrangements to implement the Hospital Parking Charges Act by May 2026. In preparation to manage on-site vehicular traffic and car parking capacity the Western HSC Trust is currently installing a network of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology across the following sites: Altnagelvin , Southwest Acute, Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex and at Waterside Hospital on the Gransha Site.

    The implementation of the new technology will be in two distinct phases:  The first phase will be implemented in spring 2025 when we will utilise ANPR to protect restricted areas on hospital grounds, for example double yellow lines, set down areas and delivery yards. During this initial phase we will be commissioning all ANPR cameras and will start to capture information to better understand the flow of vehicles on the sites. The second phase will be to utilise ANPR technology to control on-site car parks in a tariff free environment by May 2026.

    The use of ANPR will bring about many changes to the way Health and Social Care Trusts manage on-site vehicle traffic and how we control vehicular capacity in our car parks; but also to the experience of the driver accessing our facilities. A communication plan has been developed, however, I would like the opportunity share with you Frequently Asked Questions to help explain how we intend to use this new technology and to provide you with answers to concerns that may be expressed by your constituents over the coming months.

    Click Here for PDF and details together with Site Map

  • 25/01/2025: Update Message re Impacts due to Storm Éowyn

    Following the very significant impacts and disruptions associated with Storm Éowyn, we continue to remain in major incident mode at this time. With many of our communities still without power, and with snow in most rural areas this morning, we wish to highlight that our staff continue to work above and beyond to support those most vulnerable in our communities.

    Our Community teams continue to remain in contact and provide care to our vulnerable clients and those with critical care needs and we also encourage all those who are vulnerable and remain without power, to make themselves known to  NI Electricity.

    We have also shared important messaging from our Council partners in respect of centres open and providing assistance to the public and would encourage further sharing of these messages on public channels.

    We would like to assure you that our teams continue to ensure critical and essential services are delivered as we recover from Storm Éowyn, supported by our partners, in these continued difficult circumstances.

  • 24/01/2025: Storm Éowyn Information and Updates

    Please note the following public external message which has been issued this evening by the Western trust. To note there will be a number of impacts to services and if there are any additional relevant updates, these will be available on the Trust’s website on this link:

    As a result of this extreme weather event we are planning for significant disruption to our health and social care services on Friday 24 January following the Met Office’s red weather warning in relation to Storm Éowyn.

    Our focus will be on maintaining safe services for acutely unwell patients within our inpatient facilities and protecting urgent and emergency care. Our community services will strive to maintain services for the most vulnerable clients.

    Our message to patients and service users is that they should assume any scheduled appointments are cancelled unless contacted by the Trust to advise otherwise.

    Given the advice from the PSNI not to travel and the cancellation of public transport, we would strongly encourage people to use our Phone First service, where appropriate, before travelling to our Emergency Departments.

    The Phone First triage service is available on 0300 020 6000. In an emergency, always call 999.

    We have posted the above across all our Social Media Channels and would appreciate if this can be shared with your constituents.

Public Representative’s Online Hub Archive 2023 – 2024

Public Representative’s Online Hub Archive 2021 -2022

We would also ask that you continue to stay tuned to and share our regular official updates published on our Website and Social Media Channels on the following links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube