‘Storm ready’ Trust staff praised

Speaking at Thursday’s (January 30) meeting of the Southern HSC Trust board, Mr McCafferty commented: “I want to reference the events of last Friday and the impact of Storm Éowyn.

“Obviously, it was a severe weather event, and it had a significant impact across the community.

“I’m very mindful that there’s still some elements of our community that still do not have power, and that’s a particular challenge, particularly if they are vulnerable people, children, elderly.

“The Trust is working with other agencies to do everything we possibly can to provide relevant support.

“I’m delighted that nobody was significantly injured, and overall people were kept safe.

“It is important to point out it was a unique situation, namely a Red weather alert warning.

“There was a decision taken, endorsed by the Department of Health (DoH) and consistent across the five Trusts, that from the early hours of Friday morning through to 2pm on Friday afternoon, we would only run essential critical services.

“As chief executive in the leadership team, I absolutely believe that was the right decision in relation to not only patient safety, but the safety of our staff and the safety of the public.

“But with that, for sure, there was a disruption to services. Inevitably, appointments had to be cancelled, a small number of elective procedures had to be cancelled.

“And inevitably, that downturn for approximately 12 hours, on Friday, had a knock-on effect which we were definitely dealing with over the weekend, and indeed, to an extent, are still seeking to recover from.

“I want to thank our staff, who were brilliant – and I don’t say that lightly – in terms of preparing, proactively working around shifts and rotas on Thursday to ensure those critical services would have been maintained on the Friday.

“And also a particular tribute to our estates teams who have worked tirelessly, and continue to do so to repair damage that was caused to Trust property, whether it was fallen trees or some structural damage as well.”