Western Trust statement –
Tuesday 7 October 2025
Trust Board closes the current public consultation to move forward on visioning work for ‘Future Health Services in Fermanagh and West Tyrone’
The Western Trust Board has met to discuss the recent pause to the Public Consultation on the permanent change to Emergency General Surgery in the Western Trust. Trust Board has taken the decision to close this current Public Consultation and will now move forward on visioning work for ‘Future Health and Care Services in Fermanagh and West Tyrone’.
In July 2025, the Health Minister asked the Trust to end the current consultation and begin the process of producing a vision plan, emphasising how the South West Acute Hospital will meet the health needs of its current and future population. Following the Trust Board decision, Chief Executive Neil Guckian commented:
“Since pausing the Public Consultation, we have reflected on what we have heard and it is important that I acknowledge the tremendous depth of feeling and concerns raised by people who have written to us and spoken to us directly.
“As Chief Executive, I accept that there were flaws in our planned process. The previous process from the public’s perspective felt rushed and we should have spent more time engaging with the local community before the launch of the consultation process. The timing of the public events was wrong, and we underestimated the number of people who would want to attend our public meeting in Fermanagh.
“We have apologised for these shortfalls and the fact that they caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty. We will learn from this moving forward as we develop our plans for the period ahead.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to the long-term sustainability and development of SWAH as a vital and successful hospital within the HSC regional network of hospitals. We will now work with all relevant stakeholders to develop a clear vision for health and social care provision in Fermanagh and West Tyrone, including South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) as an integral part of how we serve this community.
“This detailed analysis will focus on ‘Future Health Services in Fermanagh and West Tyrone’ which will be informed by population needs and will build on the Fermanagh and West Tyrone Pathfinder engagement previously undertaken. Pathfinder was seen as an excellent example of positive and meaningful engagement with our local population. The feedback was very useful and highlighted a very clear focus by the majority of service users on community services. Moving forward with this vision planning it will be crucial to plan for a strong community aspect to services to support SWAH.
“Careful consideration will also be given to key strands of policy and research which will help shape the strategic and policy framework going forward.
“In recent weeks, the Trust has received and collated many views and opinions from a wide range of stakeholders including SOAS. This will all help to inform and influence work to develop the vision, ensuring that the approach is shaped by the needs and experience of patients, clients, carers and communities. We will work closely with our staff, trade unions, community leaders, elected representatives and the public and there will also be discussion on areas for potential future collaboration with the Health Service Executive, Republic of Ireland (HSE).”
SWAH remains an Acute Hospital with a type 1 Emergency Department
The Department of Health and the Minister have re-iterated that SWAH will have a critical role to play going forward and will continue to provide services to patients not just across Fermanagh and parts of Tyrone but across Northern Ireland. SWAH remains an important Acute Hospital within the NI hospital network and its acute services provision has not changed. SWAH provides a 24/7 Type 1 Emergency Department, maternity services (Obs and Gynae), full resuscitation facilities and ICU, in addition to being a part of the major trauma network.
Chief Executive Neil Guckian confirmed that while work to complete the vision is carried out, the temporary suspension of Emergency General Surgery (EGS) at SWAH, in place since December 2022, will continue to remain in place.
“To date the independent analysis shows that after the temporary change, patients in the Western Trust who have had emergency general surgery have improved outcomes with decreased mortality, a lower surgical complication rate and a lower rate of re-admission after discharge. We want to reassure the public that the clinical pathways in place are in line with all required clinical standards and they continue to be monitored carefully.”
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Western Trust statement – 17 July 2025
Trust Board members agreed today to pause and reconsider our consultation approach
We fully respect the Minister’s request this week to take cognisance of the feedback to date around the content, scheduling and timescales of the consultation process
The Trust supported by the DoH remains fully committed to the long term development and vision for SWAH. The Trust would highlight that the South West Acute Hospital continues to be a successful acute hospital, providing high quality care with a Consultant-led Emergency Department
It is important for the public to note that the temporary transfer of emergency general surgery to Altnagelvin Hospital continues to be in place.
In conclusion, the Board does wish to apologise for the uncertainty that has been created for the public as a result of these events and clearly our commitment is to address these issues and through a revised process of consultation and engagement.
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EGS Consultation Update: 16 July 2025 - 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.
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EGS Consultation Update: 11 July 2025
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.
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EGS Consultation Update: 10 July 2025
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 (Waterfoot 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 Killyhevlin 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.