The future of emergency surgery at Causeway Hospital has become the centre of a political dispute, with the DUP and TUV accusing the Ulster Unionist Party of lacking a clear position on the proposed removal of the service.
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is proposing to transfer emergency general surgery (EGS) from Causeway Hospital in Coleraine to Antrim Area Hospital. The final decision will be made by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, an Ulster Unionist MLA.
UUP leader Jon Burrows has said he does not support the proposal. However, DUP MLA Maurice Bradley and TUV leader Jim Allister have questioned whether Mr Burrows is willing to use his authority as party leader to influence the minister.
What is being proposed at Causeway Hospital?
If the Trust proposal is approved, surgery at Causeway would become diagnostic and elective, rather than providing emergency general surgery. The Trust has said it wants the hospital to become a diagnostic hub serving the entire north-west area.
A Trust spokesperson said operating two emergency general surgery units, at Causeway and Antrim, would be unsustainable in the long term. The proposal is part of wider changes affecting local hospital services.
The 20-bed Ross Thomson Unit, which provides mental-healthcare services, is also being considered for relocation to Antrim Area Hospital.
The potential changes have prompted concern in the Causeway community, where local campaigners and trade union representatives have been pressing for the emergency and mental-health services to remain at the hospital.
Burrows says closure does not have his support
Mr Burrows spoke at a packed meeting in Coleraine Town Hall on Thursday. The event was chaired by the Save Our Services Causeway Hospital group, led by Gemma Brolly, and the trade union Unison. Mr Nesbitt had been invited but could not attend because he was at a constituency election meeting in Strangford.
Mr Burrows said his opposition was informed in part by his previous experience as a senior PSNI officer and his understanding of the importance of accessible emergency medical care.
“The recommendation of the Trust to close the emergency surgery in Causeway Hospital does not have my support,” Mr Burrows said at the time. “I do not agree with it and I will never agree with it. I can’t be any clearer than that.”
He had previously described the removal of the services as unacceptable and said that closing major local services did not have his support.
Opposition parties demand clarity
Mr Bradley first raised concerns at the Coleraine meeting and returned to the issue on Monday. He questioned whether Mr Burrows and Mr Nesbitt shared the same position, noting that only a party leader can appoint or dismiss a minister from their own party within the Stormont Executive.
“The Causeway community has made its views abundantly clear. Jon Burrows says he agrees with them. The question now is what he intends to do about it.”
Mr Bradley argued that ministers should be accountable for decisions affecting public services and said the UUP leader should explain why Mr Nesbitt would remain in office if he lacked confidence that the minister would make the right decision for Causeway.
Mr Allister also challenged the UUP’s position. He said the future of the service was in the hands of the UUP because the party controls the Department of Health, and asked whether the party leader or the health minister represented the party’s position.
“Who represents the UUP position on this issue? Is it the party leader? Is it the party’s Minister?”
Mr Allister said the issue was not simply one of separate roles within government, but of whether the party and its minister were pursuing the same policy on a key public service in Mr Burrows’s North Antrim constituency.
The UUP was approached for comment. The proposed changes remain subject to a decision by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt.
