Alex Easton MLA has roundly condemned the decision of the SE Trust Management Board to continue with the proposed closure of the Bangor and Ards Minot Injury Units and said the matter is far from over.
Speaking today Alex Easton MLA said:
“I am not surprised by this decision, however I seriously have to question the leadership decision making of the SE trust when the headline facts coming from their own public consultation on the proposed closure of the Bangor and Ards Minor Injury Units show 83% opposed to the SE Trusts own consultation proposals but the Trust are ignoring these stats and have sent their proposals onto the Permanent Secretary for Health for consideration, when they ignore a petition of over 19033 people and clearly conducted a flawed consultation process which had only one proper public meeting and presented only one choice closure that is not a proper consultation, the fact they has already moved another department into the Bangor Minor Unit shows a predetermined out come. We also see the SE Trust accepts that the proposal will unfortunately have an impact on groups such as people with mobility problems, those in rural areas and those without a car, it is disgracefully the SE Trust can admit to discriminating against those people and think they can get away with it. The Alliance Party’s support for closure has unfortunately only helped to encourage the SE Trust to keep pursuing closure. The fight still goes on, this is far from over as we now move to the Permanent Secretary for Health who I today am calling not to make any decisions on this issue until as such time there may be an Assembly in place.”
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