05/08/2005

Concern as two breast clinics close

Two breast clinics in Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone are to close despite concerns that waiting lists in the province are astronomically high.

The clinics at the Erne and Tyrone County Hospitals will close though it has emerged that 269 patients were currently waiting for appointments. In one case a woman waited nine months for an appointment.

The Sperrin Lakeland Trust admitted that the service needed to change but insisted that the urgent cases were being seen quickly.

Present waiting lists for urgent referrals have an average waiting time of two weeks.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Shaun Woodward has welcomed progress on the new hospitals in Enniskillen and Omagh.

The two hospitals, representing a combined investment of some £270 million, will form a key part of the network of acute and local hospital services across Northern Ireland.

The Minister was speaking following the Sperrin Lakeland Trust Board meeting on Thursday. At the meeting it was confirmed that an option to purchase the site for the new £175 million hospital to the north of Enniskillen has been agreed and that a planning application will be submitted on 5 August.

The Minister also today confirmed approval of the Phase 1 Outline Business Case for the new £95 million local hospital in Omagh that allows the Trust to proceed with detailed design work for the hospital.

(MB/SP)

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