South Armagh resident, Liam Reichenberg has spoken of his overwhelming sense of gratitude to the maternity ward staff at Daisy Hill Hospital, for the way they cared for his wife Siobhan when she found herself in a serious condition after giving birth to their daughter Aoife.
Addressing the board of the Southern HSC Trust last Thursday (April 3), the community activist explained, by way of introduction, that he is a member of lobby group SOS Daisy Hill Action Group and political grouping Aontú, representing Newry & Armagh.
The Mullaghbawn father-of-five commented: “Maternity services at Daisy Hill are fundamental to the community around Newry, south Armagh, south Down.
“Five of the best days of my life occurred at the Maternity Ward in Daisy Hill. Unfortunately, one of them could have ended up being the worst day of my life, because when I was advised that it was safe and good enough to go home after my last child was born, 14 years ago, I got a phone call just as I walked in the door, ‘You need to get back, get back quick’.
“My wife recalls that she had one-to-one care. She was bleeding. They couldn’t control it, and she had a nurse who was checking on her every five to 10 minutes.
“And after about an hour, the nurse just whispered into her ear ‘I’ll be right back’. And [my wife] said, within minutes, maybe even less, it was five people around her, and she was heading upstairs for surgery, and I was able to get back to Daisy Hill, from where I live in South Armagh, within about 20 minutes to see her.
“It was very dramatic, because I was a bit unaware of the seriousness of the situation, and I could tell by the look on the nurse’s face. And we were now about 2am or something like that.
“She was looking at me very bizarrely, and I realised she was shocked at how calm I was.
“I said ‘Is this going to be alright?’ She didn’t answer me.
“And then I said ‘Should I ring my wife’s parents?’. The nurse replied ‘I think you should’.
“I’m sure that my experience is similar to very many, many other people, but we were so moved by the care and attention we were given.
“And thankfully, my wife came through it very well, and all’s good, it’s a happy ending, and we were moved to write a bit of a notice in the local papers.
“I just want to read it, because this is consistent with the feeling of people in the community, especially with regards to Daisy Hill: ‘The Reichenberg and Loughran families, Aughanduff and Carrickrovaddy, wish to express their sincere appreciation to the staff of Daisy Hill Hospital for the care and attention given to Siobhan and our new arrival, Aoife.
“’Your professionalism, dedication and concern for them were of the highest calibre. We thank God for your skills and ability, which were extraordinary in our exceptional hour of need.
“To the midwives, nurses, doctors and surgeons and priest in Daisy Hill Hospital, we say thank you for all you have done for us, and for all you continue to do for the entire community who rely on you and Daisy Hill Hospital’.
“Many people share that sentiment in our community, and we are very concerned about the future of maternity services at Daisy Hill.
“We feel that communication is very poor with your staff as to what the future plans are for Daisy Hill Maternity Services.
“What is the strategy for Maternity Services at Daisy Hill? Given recent retirements and people leaving, what is the recruitment strategy? Because it doesn’t appear that there’s a strategy in place at all.
“The common term that’s been used among some people is that they feel the services at Daisy Hill have been left to wither on the vine, that there’s no strategy in place to see things grow.
“We look at recent reports and we see that the birth rates at Daisy Hill are steadily growing, and yet falling in Craigavon, but the talk on the street is that maternity services at Daily Hill are the ones that are in trouble.
“The community is very concerned, and that’s why I’m here today. You’ll be aware that the community has sent letters, had rallies for all sorts of other services, such as general emergency surgery, stroke services, but I can tell you this, there’ll be no service more heart-wrenching and close to people’s hearts than maternity because we all use it.
“We’ve all been there as babies. And our people, you know, go through that service.
“What is the impact on service users in rural areas who now currently use Daisy Hill?
“What assessments are being done to alleviate the impact of diminishing services at Daisy Hill?
“That’s some of my concerns, shared by others in the groups I belong to.”
Board members took turns to address some of Mr Reichenberg’s queries regarding recruitment, with the following update given.
In terms of midwives, a recruitment exercise was carried out last August which led to the equivalent of nine whole-time posts being filled.
This was followed by another recruitment exercise in February, which led to the equivalent of just over 24 whole-time midwives being appointed.
About a third of those are already registered and going through the final recruitment process. They will be appointed to community and hospital posts.
The remainder of those midwives will not actually be registered until September, so they cannot take up posts until after September.
In terms of the consultant recruitment, one person has been appointed to a post in Craigavon. That person will take up their post in August.
More consultants, and the appropriate funding for these posts, are still being sought.
