In June 2022 in a review of general surgery across Northern Ireland, the Health Department listed six key provisions that must be met to ensure that health trusts offered a safe service.
These include providing a workforce, a process and protocols which deliver a safe service, as well as quality assurance to monitor and gauge the provision of services.
Without all six in place, a hospital could not be expected to deliver emergency general surgery.
Emergency general surgery was then temporarily suspended at Swah in December of that year.
At the time, the Western Trust said the suspension was necessary to protect the public’s safety after it had problems recruiting surgical staff.
At a trust board meeting at the start of July when the consultation was agreed to, the board was told it was”no longer possible to meet important safety standards at the Swah”.
Campaigners said the loss of services and the distance and travel time, as well as poor transport infrastructure, put lives at risk.
Neil Guckian, the chief executive of the Western Trust, told the board meeting it was “not a rushed decision” and he understood the “strength of feeling” that this issue generates.
“We have over two and a half years of working under these pathways, working effectively with no concerns on patient safety,” he added.
Mr Guckian said evidence showed that patients who need to go to Altnagelvin Hospital “have better clinical outcomes” and “no patient has come to harm”.