Still time to share views on Northern Trust’s proposals for general surgery services

There’s still time for members of the public to share their views on proposals to transform general surgery services within the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

In August, the Trust launched a 14-week public consultation period, which closes on Friday, November 29.

Members of the Trust’s senior management team have engaged with members of the public at a series of listening events, and engagement with staff, key stakeholders, and the wider community is ongoing.

Neil Martin, Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and ICT, said: “We are pleased that we’ve had the opportunity to discuss our proposals with almost 200 people across our four public engagement events.

“We’ve also had almost 100 written responses to our consultation to date, and if others wish to share their views with us, there is still time and we would encourage them to do so.”

The Northern Trust is consulting on an evidence-based case for change, proposing to centralise emergency general surgery at Antrim Area Hospital, while the majority of elective general surgery (planned surgery and procedures) will take place at Causeway Hospital.

A review of general surgery within the Northern Trust is made necessary by a number of factors including workforce challenges, which have made it increasingly difficult to maintain the required levels of staffing to deliver all aspects of general surgery services across two sites.

Additionally, new Departmental standards for emergency and elective surgery contained within the Department of Health’s 2022 Review of General Surgery, cannot be fully met without service reconfiguration.

Read more about the consultation and to share your views here