Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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691. To ask the Minister for Health if stroke patients in County Meath will be reassured that their life and safety is not being compromised by bypassing Navan Hospital. [3288/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The stroke bypass protocol for Our Lady’s Hospital Navan (OLHN) has been introduced by the HSE and the National Ambulance Service.

The reason that this stroke bypass has been put in place is for patient safety. There is no stroke unit in OLHN nor does the hospital have a consultant specialist in stroke.  The Mater Hospital, who will accept the majority of these patients, will provide stroke care to patients from the Navan catchment area. 

Under the stroke bypass protocol, it will be possible to ensure that patients from Meath return to OLHN, closer to their families, as soon as possible.  Once assessed at the stroke unit in the Mater, the patients who do not require thrombolysis will return to Navan to complete their care. Those patients who do require thrombolysis treatment will be repatriated to Navan within a 48/72-hour period to complete their care.

Navan will continue to provide rehabilitation care for stroke patients in the catchment area.This new protocol will improve patient safety and outcomes for the people of Meath who have a stroke.