18/08/2026
We recognise the strength of feeling around proposals to transform general surgery services within our Trust.
We also acknowledge the very valid concerns that have been raised by some staff, residents and elected representatives around the impact of our proposed change on Causeway Hospital, and what it means for its future as an acute hospital.
We want to provide clarity and reassurance to our patients, staff and wider community on our .
Here are some of the questions that have come up for us over the past week:
Q. How will Causeway Hospital continue to be an acute hospital if emergency general surgery is removed?
A. Causeway Hospital’s status as an acute hospital will not change and it will continue to be an important part of the region’s Trauma Network.
Q. Removing emergency general surgery from Causeway Hospital puts the Emergency Department at risk – how can it be maintained?
A. Causeway Hospital will continue to operate a ‘Type 1’ 24/7 consultant-led Emergency Department. A Type 1 ED is staffed and equipped to deal with the most serious illnesses and injuries. It includes access to full resuscitation facilities, emergency medicine consultants and specialist teams, critical care and diagnostics, and treatment for life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and strokes.
If our proposals around general surgery go ahead, we would not be the first Health Trust in Northern Ireland to maintain a Type 1 ED without having emergency general surgery on-site as this is currently the case in three other local Trusts.
Q. Emergency surgery saves lives – how can you expect people to travel further when every minute counts?
A. The majority of patients will continue to be brought to Causeway Hospital where they will be assessed, diagnosed and treated. Patients who require urgent surgical intervention or an overnight stay, will be stabilised before being transferred to Antrim Area Hospital. Many patients will be managed without a hospital admission, including returning to Causeway Hospital for a planned surgical procedure, if required. There will be bypass protocols agreed for a small number of patients, but this is already the case in some instances where patients bypass both Causeway and Antrim hospitals.
Q. Antrim Area Hospital is already under pressure and now you are going to be creating even more pressure by adding more emergency surgery – how is that a good idea?
A. We recognise the existing pressures at Antrim Area Hospital and acknowledge there are concerns about the potential impact of additional emergency surgical activity. This has been carefully considered throughout the review process and has informed our planning and modelling work. Our review of general surgery services was not initiated as a response to Emergency Department pressures. It arose from concerns regarding the sustainability of the current surgical model. Our proposal is aimed at creating a safe, stable and sustainable service for our community.
Q. The removal of maternity services and now the threat of losing emergency general surgery is stripping away Causeway Hospital’s essential services – what will be next?
A. Our proposal to consolidate emergency general surgery in Antrim is due to the current instability of our current model. It is becoming increasingly difficult to provide emergency general surgery across our two acute sites and so our preference is a planned and managed change that avoids a potential service collapse.
Far from stripping away services at Causeway Hospital, this reconfiguration gives us an opportunity to reshape how we deliver services for the local community and seek investment to enhance and expand existing services.
Q. If Causeway Hospital is so important, why are you removing services and not adding any?
A. Over the last two years, we have invested more than £5m in enhancing and expanding services at Causeway Hospital:
👩⚕️£1.8m investment in same-day emergency care
🩻Opening of £2m MRI unit
☀£1.2m solar roof project
🔁Expanding mental health liaison service to 24/7
👥Strengthening our workforce
💷We have also had confirmation of an additional £3.5m funding to expand our elective surgery service and strengthen our surgical workforce at Causeway Hospital. Longer term, we hope to see Causeway become an elective and diagnostic hub serving the entire North West. This will mean easier access to care for the local population and reduced waiting times, allowing us to provide care closer to more people’s homes.
Q. How will Causeway Hospital be an attractive option for doctors and nurses now that there are no longer hospital births and potentially no more emergency general surgery? Who would want to work in a hospital that is gradually being downgraded?
A. Over the last two years, we have had some of the most successful recruitment campaigns to date and we are about to make further appointments to our Causeway Hospital team. In recent months, we have appointed a consultant cardiologist and a consultant paediatrician. We have expanded our Emergency Department consultant team and appointed six Specialty Doctors across key specialties including cardiology, frailty and paediatrics. Causeway Hospital’s first Advanced Nurse Practitioner took up post in October 2025 with further expansion planned.
We are also confident that our proposals around general surgery will make Causeway Hospital more attractive for surgical trainees by providing them with access to protected theatre time, while also allowing them to have exposure to emergency general surgery during their rotation at Antrim Area Hospital. The proposed new model will make Causeway much more attractive to the next generation of surgeons.
