More than 200 people attended a meeting at Coleraine Town Hall to oppose the planned removal of emergency general surgery from Causeway Hospital. Campaigners warned that withdrawing the service would set off a chain of consequences, undermining other services at the site.

The Northern Health Trust recommended in May 2025 that emergency general surgery should be provided at only one of its hospitals, consolidating it at Antrim Area Hospital. The recommendation followed a 14-week public consultation. The trust said the two-site model had become increasingly unsustainable and that a planned change was needed to avoid a potential collapse of services. Under the proposal, Causeway would remain an acute hospital with a 24-hour emergency department and would be developed as an elective and diagnostic hub for the north-west.

Gemma Brolly of the SoS Causeway Hospital group told the gathering that when emergency surgery goes, other dominoes fall. She argued that professionals would not invest in a diagnostic and elective hub without emergency surgery on site. Brolly, who is also deputy leader of Aontú, said the campaign would continue.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt must approve the change. UUP leader Jon Burrows, speaking at the meeting, said he did not support the removal and would never agree to it, insisting emergency surgery must stay and be built up. He stopped short of saying whether he would direct the minister to block the decision.

The meeting was addressed by DUP MLAs Paul Frew and Maurice Bradley, TUV MP Jim Allister, and independent unionist MLA Claire Sugden. Unison representative James Large said the union was not opposed to reform but that it must be done appropriately and in consultation with the public.

Residents raised concerns about travel times. Rebecca Gill described her experience of travelling to Antrim while pregnant after maternity services moved in 2023, warning that emergency surgery leaves no time for travel. Carol Wallace said the hospital was close to home and that driving to Antrim could take up to an hour.

The Department of Health said it is working with trusts to assess how surgery can be delivered safely and sustainably at Causeway. It stated that every hospital is needed and that decisions must be supported by data. Emergency general surgery covers unplanned procedures such as appendicitis and blocked bowel. Elective surgery, like gallbladder removal, would continue at Causeway. Trauma patients would still be transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Similar consolidations have occurred elsewhere: emergency general surgery moved permanently from Daisy Hill to Craigavon, and was temporarily suspended at South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen.