23 February 2026
SDLP representatives attended a Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) protest at Stormont on Monday.
SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP and SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA were among those in attendance.
South Down MLA Colin McGrath said:
“The SDLP was glad to join with SOAS and their supporters at Stormont today. People in the wider Fermanagh area are rightly angered at the removal of services, including emergency general surgery, from the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) and the failure of the Health Minister, his department and the Western Trust to take the concerns of people seriously.
“Our party has been clear that we want to see the transformation of our health service, but that must include proper health provision for rural areas. Collapse of services cannot be dressed up as meaningful action and the current situation around healthcare in this area is untenable and must be revisited.”
SDLP Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Group Leader Councillor Adam Gannon said:
“The SDLP has stood firmly behind SOAS and their work over the past few years to retain and reinstate vital healthcare provision for people in this area. We support their roadmap to return emergency general surgery to the SWAH as part of the reconfiguration of health services across the North that leaves no one area left behind.
“The asks of SOAS and the people of Fermanagh are not extreme, nobody should face an hour and a half travel along poor roads in all conditions just to receive emergency healthcare. Nowhere else would this be tolerated and we need the Minister and Western Trust to engage with SOAS and other stakeholders to find a lasting solution.”