Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The impact of the changes the Minister for Health will make to Navan emergency department, ED, or Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda from next Monday will mean that "patients may die". These are not my words. These are only some of the words of 17 hospital consultants of my own local hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes, in Drogheda, expressed in what was an alarming letter to the Minister last week. The Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, has heard this all before. The Minister for Health has heard this all before. This Government has simply failed to act.

I want to give one example of what happened at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital last Saturday. Eleven ambulances were parked up at the hospital last Saturday night treating sick patients in the back because no trolleys were available in the ED and no beds in the hospital. This is completely unacceptable. Staff were at their wits' end. There are no new beds and a deficit of 16 unfilled non-consultant hospital doctor posts.

No extra resources are to be provided to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to accommodate this change but the hospital is expected to receive many more sick and unwell patients from the Meath area over the next period from next Monday as a result of the Government's plan. The Government needs to change course. The Government needs to consider that proposal and the impact it will have on staff and patients who need to be accommodated in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

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