Lunn says Lagan Valley Hospital must not lose maternity service

Lagan Valley Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn has said that the closure of the local maternity unit must be stopped as he believed it could be the first step towards the loss of other vital services at the hospital. His comments come as claims emerged that maternity services at Lagan Valley Hospital are due to close within 18 months. The South East Trust is meeting today to discuss the matter.

Trevor Lunn MLA stated: “The loss of maternity services at Lagan Valley Hospital would be shameful. If this service were to go, it could unfortunately be a sign of things to come. Local people will rightly be outraged.

“There must be no running-down of Lagan Valley Hospital. Longer journeys for pregnant mothers will put both mother and baby at far greater risk.

“In a number of government departments you often see services being cut simply to save cash, with little regard paid to the impact on the local population. This is totally unacceptable.

“There is trend that has seen the reduction and closure of many services outside Belfast, yet our capital city seems to keep getting more and more investment pumped into it. How can this be fair?

“Everyone in Northern Ireland deserves first-class health provision, not cuts and closures. I will continue to oppose the removal of maternity services at Lagan Valley and will not accept any reduction in provision for people in the area.”

ENDS

Uncategorized
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *