Navan Hospital Campaign to Picket HSE Head Office over “Sham Review” – Tóibín
The Save Navan Hospital Campaign is to Picket HSE Head Office from Friday the 14th of October. The announcement was made by Cathaoirleach of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign today on news that the so called review into the future of the A&E is now complete. An Teachta Tóibín stated;
“This Review has been a sham. The Review was carried out, in the main, by the HSE staff who made the original decision to close the A&E in Navan. When people review their own decision it seldom leads to different or improved decision”.
“Also the HSE refused to provide a position on the Review to representatives of the local community. This despite the Minister for Health promising in the Dáil that there would be proper engagement with the local community. There was no engagement at all with community representatives”.
“The Review specifically prevented the option of investing into Navan A&E to improve its service from being even considered. The Review was rushed and did not engage properly with medical staff in Drogheda. The Review had the result hardwired into the terms of reference. This is the opposite to empirical research”.
“Medical sources at Navan A&E have told me that the A&E in Navan has never been as busy. Monday, 2 weeks ago, 105 patients presented to Navan A&E. 50 of these would have ended up in Drogheda if Navan was closed. Last week there were 13 people waiting on trollies in Navan A&E. Covid cases are on the rise daily. The MAU ward has had to be reopened. New wards have been opened up to make space for the volume of patients. A senior medic has said that currently the A&E in Navan is as busy as an A&E in a large Dublin hospital. GP waiting times have risen to three weeks in some cases in Meath”.
“All of this capacity would have been shut and these patients would waiting for hours in Drogheda and elsewhere if it were not for the Save Navan Hospital Campaign and the tens of thousands of people that have marched to keep health services open. The decision by the HSE is reckless and a threat to health”
“Minister for Stephen Donnelly has echoed the words of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign in recent interviews. He stated on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk that the clinical team in Our Lady’s Hospital Lourdes , Drogheda had told him that the proposed divert of patients to the Louth Hospital simply could not be facilitated. He said and I quote “I was never going to stand over a situation whereby patient risk was simply transferred from one hospital to another because that simply doesn’t work for the patient”.
“This is exactly what we in the Save Navan Hospital have been saying for months and it directly contradicts the actions of the HSE. The Save Navan Hospital Campaign will now further ramp up protests and we will picket the HSE head office in Dublin on Friday the 14th of October starting at 12 noon. We will not allow the HSE to put lives at risk in Meath”.
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