HEALTH BOARD CHIEF PLEDGES ONGOING SUPPORT FOR BOMB VICTIMS
Health board chief pledges ongoing support for bomb victims
The Western Health and Social Services Board will do everything it can in the ongoing support for the victims of the Omagh bomb atrocity and their families, the chairman, Mr. Robert Toland, said.
He said Board staff had been in close discussions with the Sperrin Lakeland Trust to identify the kind of ongoing support which would be needed.
We have a major responsibility as a Board to commit ourselves to what will, inevitably, be a long process of supporting victims and their families through what are bound to be the difficult times which lie ahead," he said at a Board meeting.
Added Mr. Toland: "I am also very conscious that staff, particularly those who have been working in the front line to support victims and their families, will also need support as they come to terms with what has been a horrendous experience. Again, we will do everything we can as a Board to work with the Trust, in particular, to support staff."
After Board members observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect for the 29 people who had died, Mr. Toland said the bombing devastated the Omagh community, as well as families in Buncrana and Spain.
He went on: "We all shared the pain of the victims, and their families, and we grieve for those who were killed in the explosion.
"Alongside this grief those of us who work in the local health and social services can also take a tremendous pride in the way in which our staff and the staff of all the emergency services responded to the bombing.
"They worked tirelessly and heroically in the immediate aftermath of the explosion to assess and treat the victims at the Tyrone County Hospital, Erne, and Altnagelvin, and indeed, hospitals across the Province.
"Health and social care staff continue to support victims and their families, and this work must and will, continue for a long time into the future."
Mr. Toland said he had written to Omagh District Council and the emergency services who had worked together to ease the pain and suffering of the victims.
"They have shown the true spirit of a community which will never be broken by such acts of mindless violence," he said.
He went on to welcome the decision of the acute hospitals review panel to resume its work.
Mr. Toland said the review chairman, Mr. Bob Nicholls, had assured him the panel was determined to take account of the lessons of the bombing, including the provision of effective, sustainable emergency services for all the people of the area.
"I also want to stress that no decisions about the future pattern of acute service in the western area have been taken. Indeed, decisions cannot and will not be taken until the independent review group has submitted its proposed models of care, and until the Board has completed a very full and open process of public consultation during the early part of 1999," Mr. Toland said.
The Western Health and Social Services Board will do everything it can in the ongoing support for the victims of the Omagh bomb atrocity and their families, the chairman, Mr. Robert Toland, said.
He said Board staff had been in close discussions with the Sperrin Lakeland Trust to identify the kind of ongoing support which would be needed.
We have a major responsibility as a Board to commit ourselves to what will, inevitably, be a long process of supporting victims and their families through what are bound to be the difficult times which lie ahead," he said at a Board meeting.
Added Mr. Toland: "I am also very conscious that staff, particularly those who have been working in the front line to support victims and their families, will also need support as they come to terms with what has been a horrendous experience. Again, we will do everything we can as a Board to work with the Trust, in particular, to support staff."
After Board members observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect for the 29 people who had died, Mr. Toland said the bombing devastated the Omagh community, as well as families in Buncrana and Spain.
He went on: "We all shared the pain of the victims, and their families, and we grieve for those who were killed in the explosion.
"Alongside this grief those of us who work in the local health and social services can also take a tremendous pride in the way in which our staff and the staff of all the emergency services responded to the bombing.
"They worked tirelessly and heroically in the immediate aftermath of the explosion to assess and treat the victims at the Tyrone County Hospital, Erne, and Altnagelvin, and indeed, hospitals across the Province.
"Health and social care staff continue to support victims and their families, and this work must and will, continue for a long time into the future."
Mr. Toland said he had written to Omagh District Council and the emergency services who had worked together to ease the pain and suffering of the victims.
"They have shown the true spirit of a community which will never be broken by such acts of mindless violence," he said.
He went on to welcome the decision of the acute hospitals review panel to resume its work.
Mr. Toland said the review chairman, Mr. Bob Nicholls, had assured him the panel was determined to take account of the lessons of the bombing, including the provision of effective, sustainable emergency services for all the people of the area.
"I also want to stress that no decisions about the future pattern of acute service in the western area have been taken. Indeed, decisions cannot and will not be taken until the independent review group has submitted its proposed models of care, and until the Board has completed a very full and open process of public consultation during the early part of 1999," Mr. Toland said.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1260
Published Date: 01-Oct-98
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