By Abigail Armstrong
Emergency general surgery has been suspended for over two years, forcing patients to travel to Altnagelvin Area Hospital in Londonderry.
In July 2025, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt asked the Western Trust to pause its consultation on the permanent removal of the service. However, the campaign continues, as the service’s future remains uncertain.
Hundreds attended in Enniskillen on Sunday to show their support for the Save Our Acute Services campaign, pleading for the return of emergency surgery to South West Acute Hospital.
SOAS Spokesperson, Donal O’Cofaigh, said “We haven’t had the action we needed, and need to make it a political issue which cannot be ignored.”
On the SOAS Freedom of Information page, Mr O’Cofaigh said, “It feels like we are being ignored and effectively abandoned.” He describes this treatment as a “cruel betrayal.”
If the closure is allowed to proceed, the 83,343 people in Fermanagh will be permanently consigned to second-class status. He continues, “Losing this service will have a profound cross-cutting impact on our community.”
The SOAS website states that “We demand equal access to the right care in the right place and at the right time, for the 83,343 people who know we are second class in the care provided by the Western Health and Social Care Trust, supported by the Department of Health.
Mr O’Cofaigh says that, following a meeting with the Western Trust, there is agreement that the matter is one of prioritisation and funding for the support needed to drive the Campaign forward.
As the Campaign progresses, Mr O’Cofaigh said the outcome they want is greater ambition toward a more permanent resolution.
Whilst there are no complete statistics in 2026 of the death tolls due to the closure, it was discovered in 2022 after the SOAS group launched the first series of research papers outlining that patients were 8% more likely to die during that period of time due to the closure.
The situation at South West Acute Hospital (Swah) highlights how close the healthcare system is to the breadline, holding on by a thread.
A woman from the Omagh community says in a tearful video from A&E floor that what is going on in this country regarding the Health system is a “freaking joke.”
Kelly O’Neill said she had to lie on the floor of the Emergency Department at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen as there were not enough beds.
“It would break your heart if you could see the people, especially the elderly people, lying on beds in the corridor.” She said.
APPG released a new Corridor Care Report, researched and funded by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
According to the report, corridor care has become a defining feature of the crisis in Emergency Medicine.
“Swah used to be one of the best, now they’re not getting any funding.” Ms O’Neill said in her video.
After exclaiming that the situation she and multiple others had to face was “unfair”, she continues, “the money’s f****** there, it’s just being spent on silly things.”
Ms O’Neill’s story is one of the over 600 testimonies that the SOAS Campaign has carefully filed during the closure of the South Western Acute Hospital, and the metaphorical scars left on the people of the Fermanagh Community.
Based on recent reports from regional support, as part of the Winter Plan 2025-26, £10 million in repurposed funding was made available regionally, with £2 million allocated specifically to the Western Trust to improve ambulance handover times and staffing.
The Western Trust has launched a SWAH Strategic Development group, which includes representatives from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, to ensure the hospital’s long-term sustainability and growth.
- Abigail Armstrong
