Roslea patients to protest over surgery closure

by Gráinne Connolly

A protest will be held at South West Acute Hospital tomorrow, contesting the decision to close Roslea medical surgery. 

Patients will be gathering at the hospital with the Roslea Save Our Surgery Action Group. 

(Save the surgery facebook page linked below)

https://www.facebook.com/Save-Our-Surgery-Rosslea-Roslea-2017-293328444440181/

Roslea is a rural village, approximately 20 minutes from Lisnaskea and 50 minutes from the South West Acute Hospital.

Following the closure, residents feel that it's potentially putting their lives at risk in the case of Emergency, due to the fact that they are living in a rural village and further from medical services. 

Reported in the Fermanagh Herald, residents and patients were outraged at the closure and received very little notice. 

Patient, Mary Maguire said "The closure of the surgery seems to have been orchestrated in such a way that patients and the general public were given as little notice as possible of the closure so we would not have the opportunity to lobby or question the decision in any meaningful way. 

A fully functioning, full time, busy surgery was closed in a matter of days". 

Protesters are gathering at the hospital tomorrow morning at 9.45am to express their anger. 

It's understood that it was organised to coincide with a Western Health Trust Board meeting, taking place at the same time in the Hospital.