An emergency notice of motion has been tabled for debate by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to bring pressure to bear over plans to end emergency surgery at Daisy Hill Hospital.
It comes after the Southern Health Trust dropped its bombshell last month.
The Trust has indicated that emergency general surgery is to be “temporarily withdrawn” from the acute hospital in Newry.
It is a move which is due to take effect from the end of February.
The decision, however, as with previous moves to remove or reduce services at the Daisy Hill site, has prompted an angry backlash, from both public and politicians.
There have been fears too for the effects and extra pressures such a decision, if allowed to go ahead, will place upon Craigavon Area Hospital.
An emergency notice of motion – brought by Sinn Fein Councillor Barra Ó Muirí – will now be considered at council’s monthly meeting on Monday.
He asks that the council expresses its “complete opposition to the Southern Trust’s decision to temporarily remove Emergency Surgery provision at Daisy Hill Hospital”.
And the motion adds: “We call on that decision to be reversed and efforts redoubled to guarantee continued and improved service provision for people in this district.
“We further call on all parties to support the proposed 2022-25 Budget which will see huge increases in
health spending across the north.”
The motion, if passed, would then be forwarded to the Southern Trust and Health Minister Robin Swann.
