Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the input of all Deputies to this debate. I know there is a shared concern to ensure patients in Meath, the north east or any part of the country can access the services they need. That is a core element of the planning for any potential reconfiguration at Navan. More widely, access and quality are core to the Government's unprecedented investment in the health system.

Patient safety is at the heart of the changes proposed for Navan. The main goal of the proposed reconfiguration plan is to change the service delivery model in Navan to one that delivers safe, appropriate, patient-focused and cost-effective care.

The proposed plans put emphasis on safer services, timely access to appropriate care and improving patient experiences of care through the development of integrated care with general practitioners and community health partners. The hospital will see a greater integration of services with a level 4 hospital within the current Ireland East Hospital Group. All of this will make the hospital in Navan safer, busier and more efficient in delivering more appropriate care to patients in line with Sláintecare, whose vision is the right care at the right time in the right place.

However, as the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, alluded to, these changes can be the cause of great concern. That is particularly true at a time when our hospital system is under intense pressure. In view of that pressure, it is important we recognise the extraordinary dedication and professionalism of our healthcare workers, who continue to deliver fantastic care to their patients. It is also important to set out the crucial work under way in the HSE to address the challenges we currently face. However, at the outset, I want to acknowledge the distress overcrowded emergency departments can cause to patients, their families and front-line staff working in very challenging conditions in hospitals. Emergency departments are extremely busy. Too many patients are waiting on trolleys. The Minister has been very clear this is not acceptable. I assure the House this is an absolute priority for the Minister, the Department of Health and the HSE.

We have seen a welcome reduction in the number of Covid-positive patients in hospital but, since the end of May, the numbers have been rising again and the ongoing requirement to provide separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways continues to put pressure on the capacity and operation of emergency departments across the health system. In this context, the Minister has requested the HSE to develop comprehensive plans to include short-term and long-term measures to be taken nationally and in each emergency department and community healthcare organisation to ensure sustainable improvements in emergency department performance. The Minister and the Department of Health are working closely with the HSE on developing these plans, which will be published in due course.

With regard to concerns about the impacts of changes at Navan and in other hospitals, and in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in particular, it is important to recall there has been very significant capital investment in hospitals in the north east totalling almost €100 million. Of this, approximately €62 million has been invested in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. In addition to the construction, fit-out and equipping of a new suite of five theatres, the capital funding provided has allowed for an expansion of the emergency department at that hospital. This includes reconfiguration of the existing emergency department, an equipping of the surgical ward, the construction of a new ward block and the purchase and installation of a second CT scanner. Eighty-four beds have opened and a further ten general medical beds are being put in place along with two additional ICU beds being transferred from Navan.

Notwithstanding all of that, the Minister has made it very clear that, for any proposal to be considered, he would need to be satisfied on several levels. He would need to be satisfied in respect of the legitimate questions raised by Oireachtas Members on issues, including access to medical assessment units, the capacity of the National Ambulance Service, local access to GPs, emergency and other resources available in Drogheda, the use of injury units and more. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has met with senior clinicians from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, who have informed him they do not currently have the resources adequately to take on the several thousand extra patients who would visit the emergency department if this reconfiguration were to go ahead. For all of these reasons, the Minister has instructed the HSE to pause the proposed reconfiguration at Navan to allow for meaningful consultation.

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