Southern Trust may face court over handling of Daisy Hill staffing crisis

By Iveren McCallion

The Southern Trust insists it's 'fully committed to delivering safe, sustainable,' round-the-clock emergency services at Daisy Hill Hospital.

It was responding to the possibility of court proceedings being brought against them over their handling of A&E staffing problems.

Sinn Fein's solicitors say a judicial review is 'more likely than ever', and are calling on the Trust to confirm they're trying to keep Daisy Hill's Emergency Department open full-time.

It's after they claimed that a letter from Trust implied the service would be 'diminished' if a temporary closure became necessary.

A shortage of emergency doctors had threatened the department with cut hours, but a short-term solution was found to maintain the current service for the next 14 months.

But the Trust says the letter was taken out of context, and that the line quoted by the party should be read in full as below:

"The Trust has no plans to alter  or diminish any other aspect of service provision and would not anticipate that, in the event that some suspension of the overnight Emergency Department service has been necessary, this would inevitably cause a chain of events resulting in service diminishment."