New acute hospital to be built in Enniskillen

A new acute hospital serving the west of Northern Ireland is to be built to the north of Enniskillen, it was announced today.

Stormont Heath Minister Des Browne said the decision to place the hospital in Co Fermanagh and not in Omagh, Co Tyrone was the most difficult decision in an investment programme amounting to £1.2bn (€1.76bn) over the next 10 years.

The decision means the 15 hospitals which currently provide life-saving services will be cut to 10.

The hospitals losing the ability to carry out emergency surgery will be the Mid-Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt, Whiteabbey, Co Antrim, the Downe in Downpatrick, Lagan Valley in Lisburn and Tyrone County in Omagh.

Mr Browne said the decision to base the new hospital to the north of Enniskillen was “finely balanced”.

He said: “I have concluded that the interests both of Fermanagh and Tyrone are best served by siting the new hospital to the north of Enniskillen.”

It is understood the decision was based mainly on accessibility, including that of the estimated 10,000 people who live south of the Fermanagh lakes.

The existing site of the Erne hospital in Enniskillen has been ruled out and the new hospital will be placed on a site yet to be determined to the north of the town.

The decision to strip acute services from Omagh is expected to provoke a judicial challenge, however Mr Browne said it was important to move forward quickly.

“Throughout this process I have been very aware of the destabilising effect on hospital services in both Omagh and Enniskillen that a lack of a decision has caused and without a decision this damage to both hospitals could very quickly become irreversible.”

The decision to site the new hospital in Enniskillen is one of a two blows dealt to Omagh. The Developing Better Services consultation document had recommended that whichever site lost its acute services should be granted a protective elective centre which would carry out routine operations in a bid to cut hospital waiting lists.

However this decision has been reversed and the new hospital will also host the proposed PEC.

Sinn Fein’s west Tyrone MP Pat Doherty said campaigners in Omagh would consider taking legal action in a bid to have the decision overturned.

“I’m very, very disappointed,” he said. “I believe it’s the wrong decision and we will have to review our position in the wake of it.

“Once the question of access to services south of the border was answered by minister Micheal Martin and access times were reviewed, the decision should have been in favour of Omagh.

“I think this is not the end of the fight. Taking a legal challenge is one of the things we will have to consider.”

However Mr Doherty’s party colleague Michelle Gildernew was delighted that the new hospital will be sited in Enniskillen, a town in her Fermanagh and south Tyrone constituency.

She also dismissed any suggestion of a rift with Mr Doherty over the affair.

“I do believe the decision taken is the right one and I am absolutely delighted about it,” she said.

“Myself and Pat Doherty will now be getting together to lobby to ensure that this investment is carried through and the people west of the Bann get the best quality of health care which they deserve.”