Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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399. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan has been under resourced and understaffed in a planned manner designed to reduce services and the capabilities of the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48823/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Smaller Hospitals Framework was approved by Government and published in 2013. The Framework included a list of nine designated Model 2 Hospitals, including Our Lady’s Hospital Navan. Navan will be the last of those hospitals to transition to Model 2.

The HSE has advised that changes to the services at Navan, in line with the Government Decision, are necessary to support safe service delivery on a sustained basis. However, they can only take place on completion of the necessary planning and re-design work, which is still ongoing. This will further integrate and enhance the role of Navan Hospital within the Ireland East Hospital Group, ensuring that it will provide more services safely and appropriately with better linkages to primary, continuing, and social care. The vision for Navan in the future is that it will be a core element in the delivery of integrated care for patients in line with the Slaintecare vision, with the vast majority of current footfall expected to continue.

In relation to the resourcing and staffing levels at Navan, as this is a service issue I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy in that regard.