Nurses' taxis 'end in two weeks'

The trust said it was working hard to redeploy staff from Omagh

Nurses in Omagh who are sent to work in other areas will only be transported by taxi for another two weeks, the Western Health Trust has said.

The Western Health Trust spent almost £14,000 transporting nurses to other hospitals since services were cut at the Tyrone County earlier this year.

A spokesman said the redeployment of staff will be complete by 6 July.

Omagh councillor Ross Hussey said it was a "cosmetic exercise" as nurses would still have to travel to work.

"These nurses are clearly going to be transferred in one way or another to either Londonderry or Enniskillen.

"They're saying that the taxis are stopping but there's going to have to be some form of transport to get the nurses up there, whether they use public transport or they use their own cars.

"And they still haven't tackled the issue that these nurses will probably still have an extra two hours on their day," said Mr Hussey.

Nurses redeployed from the Tyrone County Hospital have been travelling to the Erne and Altnagelvin hospitals after acute services were cut in Omagh.