Hundreds Attend Save Causeway Hospital Protest.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Diamond, Coleraine today to fight for Maternity Services at Causeway Hospital today. Chairperson of the Save Causeway Hospital Campaign Gemma Brolly who organised the event stated:
“The cutting of Maternity Services in our region is a life and death issue. Its wrong and our campaign will fight it. We need more investment in our hospital not less. Mothers are already giving birth before they have been able to reach Antrim Maternity Hospital and if Causeway Maternity is closed nearly a thousand women each year will have to make the longer journey to an already overcrowded hospital”.
“FOIs that we have submitted show that key maternity services have been stripped back at Causeway Hospital since 2013. This has reduced the number of births that are happening at our hospital and therefore reduced opportunity for staff. This is creating staffing problems and leading to increased pressure on Antrim Hospital. This is not by accident. Its as a result of service centralisation and health budget that is no where near large enough to deal with the demands on the service. The 5 Stormont parties have signed up to this process of centralisation”.
“This is only the start of the fight back. We now have a growing campaign built with real people on the ground. We are a campaign of families, nursing staff, community groups, sporting organisations and representatives. We will not sit back and watch the closure of services that will cost lives. We are currently taking legal advice on the legality of hospital service closures at a time when there is no Health Minister or functioning Stormont. There is no democratic accountability for these cuts. We demand speaking rights at the next public meeting of the Health and Social Trust Board. We demand a meeting with the Private Secretary within the Department of Health. We will organise further protests and public meetings in the coming months to keep these services”. ENDS
