“Tell the truth Poots – A&E closure down to Assembly cuts”

cityaeThe Minister for Health Edwin Poots has been challenged to “tell the truth on the decision to close the Belfast City Hospital’s A&E”.

South Belfast Socialist Party spokersperson Paddy Meehan stated “the decision to close the City A&E was not taken as the Minister claims because of resourcing reasons, but was a planned running down of the service to close acute services across Belfast and other Health Trusts.

“The decision to close the A&E was implemented in November 2011 but under the guise of a temporary closure. In actual fact the decision was taken years ago to run down the service, including the removal of the A&E’s emergency surgery unit.

“The Minister needs to tell the truth. This is part of the Assembly Executive’s cuts programme for public services – a programme that is going to accelerate in the next 2 years. A recent Belfast Health Trust report reveals cuts of over £83million in this Trust alone.

“Any consultation which does not offer the option of full funding and a resourcing plan for an A&E at the City Hospital is a sham consultation. Workers in the health service and local communities have not and will not accept these cuts.”

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Film Review: Lincoln

Next Article

Scrap 'fitness tests' targeting sick and disabled people

Related Posts
Read More

Bosses & politicians to blame for Covid spike!

The Stormont politicians - like those at Westminster and in Dublin - are brazenly trying to scapegoat ordinary people for an increase in Covid infection which has been caused by their own pro-corporate policies. Socialists recognise the seriousness of this pandemic and support all necessary measures to protect public health, but the cost must not fall on the shoulders of workers.

Read More

NHS workers save lives despite capitalist mismanagement

Across Britian and Northern Ireland to date, over 200 health workers’ lives have been lost to Covid-19. However, Westminster and the Stormont Executive have manipulated the figures, so this will be grossly under-estimated. Grotesquely, the overwhelming majority of these deaths were preventable. The Assembly followed the Tory plan, prioritising profit before people to protect the interests of big business and capitalism. Sinn Féin and the DUP disgracefully used the pandemic as an opportunity to pursue their own sectarian agendas, throwing the Executive into paralysis. This can only be described as criminally negligent in the extreme.