SDLP Down District Chairman Councillor Eamonn O’Neill has welcomed an A&E services specialist from Scotland, Professor Page, to meet the Downe Hospital taskforce group to give expert advice on future services at the hospital. Councillor O’Neill, who established the Downe Hospital taskforce group which includes councillors, GPs, people involved in hospital services and the Hospital Support Group, said, “Professor Page is an expert in the field of Accident and Emergency (A&E) services and we are grateful that he has taken time out to advise us on what services we specifically require in Down District. “I am hopeful that he will steer us on how to counter some of the decisions made by the Health Minister against services at the Downe Hospital and will provide us with informed knowledge on how our hospital should be run. “People in Down District need a 24-hour A&E service nearby and we will do all we can to press the Health Minister to re-open and re-examine the Downe Hospital case rather than axing services at this vital state-of-the-art facility.”]]>