Tyrone County Hospital
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| Tyrone County Hospital | |
|---|---|
 October 2005 | |
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   | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom |
| History | |
| Opened | 1899 |
54°35′53″N 7°16′48″W / 54.598°N 7.280°W
Tyrone County Hospital (Irish: Otharlann Chontae Thír Eoghain) was the main hospital in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The hospital occupied the same site in the town from 1899 until it closed to new patients on 20 June 2017, when it was replaced by the newly built Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex.[1]
Proposed closure
As of 2009[update], the hospital is facing closure because of a decision of then Health Minister Bairbre de Brún.[2] The Maternity, Paediatric and Intensive Care units have all been closed and children are not allowed to be taken into Accident & Emergency. Because of this, patients face travelling distances of approximately 43 km (27 mi) south to the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen (which has a smaller population than Omagh), 57 km (35 mi) north to Altnagelvin Area Hospital in Derry, or as far as Craigavon, which is over 80 km (50 mi) away. These journeys pose a risk to people requiring urgent treatment. Michael McGimpsey has so far defended the decision.[3]
As part of the campaign against the proposals to close the hospital, local GP Kieran Deeny was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly on the single issue of retaining the hospital in the 2003 elections. On 15 October 2005, there was a mass protest outside the hospital, which made television news, both local and national newspapers and radio. On 28 November 2005 there was a large protest in the town centre, with over 30,000 in attendance. All of the town's schools and many shops closed for the event, allowing students and staff to attend. Meetings involving the Sperrin Healthcare Trust are constantly interrupted by campaigners.
Health Minister Michael McGimpsey threatened to pull the plug on building a new Hospital in Omagh (albeit with much reduced facilities) unless Omagh District Council support him,[4] and as such Tyrone County Hospital is facing an uncertain future.
Concerns have also been raised as to whether the new Omagh Local Hospital will even be built. Due to budget cuts, the health minister says he hasn't, in fact, the money to build the new hospital, but he says it is one of his priorities.[5]
New Hospital
Funding for a new local hospital in Omagh was approved by the Department of Health in 2011.[6] The new hospital is being built on the site of the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital outside of Omagh and is due to be completed in December 2016, opening to patients in March 2017.[7]
References
- ^ "Tyrone County Hospital 1899-2017". westerntrust.hscni.net. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Proposed acute hospital plan sparks row". Northern Ireland News. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "McGimpsey Defends Omagh Acute Hospital Loss". Northern Ireland News. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Henry, Lesley-Anne (9 October 2008). "The deal's off if Omagh hospital plan is resisted, warns McGimpsey". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey has today reaffirmed his continued support for the new Omagh Hospital". 26 May 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check|archive-url=value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Northern Ireland to spend £75m on new Omagh hospital". The Guardian. 10 August 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ McKelvey, Mark (14 December 2015). "New Omagh Hospital is progressing well". The Ulster Herald. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
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External links
- "Sperrin Lakeland Trust". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2010.