Community hospitals 'a priority', urges East Derry UUP

Mr Carmichael made his plea on behalf of the UUP Association as the Stormont Executive announced its long-awaited Programme for Government in which it was hope health would be given a multi-million pound cash injection.

Mr Carmichael added it was “absolutely vital” for the sake of future convalescent care in the East Londonderry constituency that community hospitals became “a working reality” and not just “a health pipe dream”.

In East Derry terms, he emphasised, this means new community hospitals in places, such as Limavady and Dungiven, to support the work being done currently at Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital.

He added: "Whilst they are located outside the constituency boundaries, both the Antrim Area and Altnagelvin hospitals provide acute care for a lot of people in East Derry.

“But the Stormont health department, if the current Executive is genuine in wanting to develop an ethos of care in the community, needs to think seriously about not just planning, but physically building a network of community convalescent hospitals to support the acute services in the Causeway.” Carmichael said East Derry constituents were having to bear the heavy burden medically of the past

Conservative Government's rationalisation which saw local community hospitals in other constituencies, such as the Waveney in Ballymena, the Route in Ballymoney and Cushendall all axed as well as cuts to the services at the Dalriada in Ballycastle.

“Hopefully, both the Stormont Executive and the new Labour Government at Westminster will realise that a viable policy of ‘putting patients first' depends not just on the excellent work done by the acute sector, but also requires back-up from community hospitals.

“The real danger to convalescent care provision in Derry is that the longer delays to actually providing cash to the frontline of health continues, the more likely that such a community hospital scheme will be put on the civil service ‘long finger’.

“A clear advantage of having devolved powers restored to local Assembly members would be that we could start making this network a working reality through the Programme for Government.

Mr Carmichael emphasised that the people of the mid County Derry region of the constituency were still left vulnerable in terms of access to minor Accident and Emergency provision. He said a new, purpose-built community hospital located in Limavady could cater for minor operations performed by visiting consultants.

He said that whilst he accepted the need for major acute hospitals, they could not be viewed in isolation. “Given the locations of the two main acute hospitals which service East Londonderry, the constituency does need a series of community convalescent hospitals in major areas of population in support of the Altnagelvin and Causeway.

“Acute and community care must be built around a vision in which health needs are met primarily in the local community. The foundation of any health care policy is that when people are sick, they receive the correct treatment, in the correct place at the correct time, delivered by the correct people,” said Mr Carmichael.