Debate contribution: South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen

Debate contribution by Miss Jemma Dolan on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Miss Jemma Dolan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404855

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I rise to speak about the South West Acute Hospital, a modern hospital with untapped potential as a true cross-border healthcare resource, and the urgent need for leadership to make that potential a reality. When the hospital was commissioned, its business plan received approval on the basis that the hospital would be positioned in a cross-border service network for trauma, emergency and elective care; in other words, the development and commissioning of future services was to be done on a cross-border basis to ensure the sustainability and clinical viability of services. More than a decade on, that vision has not been followed through. It is clear that the area needs a new, ambitious, whole-system, all-island healthcare approach that does not accept the existing constraints put in place as a result of partition on this island. We cannot continue to live in the way that we are living. Fermanagh and Omagh is a uniquely rural district, representing 20% of the North's land mass and 6% of its population. It has the longest share of the border and is deeply interconnected with its neighbouring Southern border counties in trade, agriculture, workforce mobility, daily life and, indeed, cultural connections. Health cooperation would improve the range of service availability; reduce travel times, particularly for emergency care; and support shared workforce planning. An integrated cross-border model of care is an absolute priority for the people of Fermanagh and Omagh. The breadth of the health issues raised by my constituents from all-island paediatric pathology services to autism provision and suicide support points to a simple truth: our current systems are failing to meet people's needs. They are not isolated concerns; they are symptoms of deeply rooted, systemic shortcomings in how healthcare is planned and delivered on the island. On this small island, we operate two health systems, each facing deep, structural challenges. It makes no sense that, on an island of just over seven million people, we run two entirely separate health systems that try to solve the same problems. Waiting lists in the North are unacceptably long, rural areas such as ours are especially hard hit, and patients continue to fall between the cracks. Where cooperation has been embraced, we see success. The All-Island Congenital Heart Disease Network has delivered world-class outcomes for children. The North West Cancer Centre in Derry has a catchment area of approximately 500,000 residents, enabling those people to avail themselves of chemotherapy and radiotherapy services closer to home.

The current CEO of the Western Trust is on record as saying that, without the cross-border population, there would not be enough people to sustain the service. There is ample evidence that when we approach healthcare at the scale of our island, not the scale of partition, people benefit and we achieve world-class clinical outcomes for the people whom we serve. Why then has the same logic not been used in the SWAH to increase footfall and to build resilient emergency surgical services?

In July 2025, the Health Minister in the South, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, stated:

“Working collaboratively to address healthcare challenges in both jurisdictions is of the utmost importance and enhancing north-south cooperation will continue to be a priority for the Department of Health.”

I understand that, when our Health Minister gave evidence recently at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, he rightly indicated his support for cross-border health service development and implementation. Cross-border cooperation is already happening in places, but there needs to be more leadership on it. It must be developed at scale because, when it comes to health, there should be no borders. I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber and would like to know what he has done to build on cooperation for the future sustainability of the SWAH, particularly in relation to emergency surgical care. Whilst we acknowledge the scaling up of elective care at the hospital, those are short-term measures that depend on independent sector provision and do not address the fundamental long-term issues of emergency surgery provision in the area. That is echoed in the recent work of the International Centre for Local and Regional Development. Its report on community and spatial planning in the Irish border region underlines how joined-up cross-border approaches to planning can deliver better outcomes for communities that span administrative boundaries. Its research shows that coordinated planning does not just improve services; it strengthens the fabric of border communities. Healthcare should be no different. We also heard those calls made powerfully at the Enniskillen event hosted by Pat Cullen MP on delivering rural health and care in a new Ireland. The event brought together voices from across health and rural communities, highlighting not just the crisis that we face but the opportunities that exist if we reimagine how health and care are delivered across the island. The message was clear: rural health needs a system that is equitable, sustainable and rooted in the needs of people, North and South, without artificial barriers. People want to talk about the future and what a new and united Ireland could look like, and healthcare is one of the first places that they go, because cooperation in health just makes sense. An all-island national health and care service that is public, universal, free at the point of delivery and based on clinical need, will be more sustainable and will ensure that everyone on this island could access the best services available. Sinn Féin will continue to champion that integrated all-Ireland approach, ensuring that specialist care is accessible to people, North and South, on the basis of need. The future of health and care in a new Ireland is of enormous importance to citizens, and the South West Acute Hospital can and should be at the heart of a cross-border solution. Let us not waste another year of opportunity, leave another patient waiting, or have another family burdened by inadequate care. I call on the Health Minister to show leadership and make moves to build the health service of the future for all our communities, without borders and with the dignity that every person deserves.

1,025 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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