Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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108. To ask the Minister for Health if he will engage with or meet constituents in County Meath regarding the future of Navan hospital. [60796/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the HSE has proposed a process of planned service changes at Our Lady's Hospital Navan and has advised that these changes are necessary to support safe service delivery on a sustained basis and are driven first and foremost by patient safety considerations.  

No decision regarding the HSE’s proposal for the transition of the Emergency Department at Navan has been agreed by me or by government.

While recognising the very real clinical concerns identified, the Government is clear that several important issues, including additional capacity in other hospitals impacted and the continued ability of people in the Navan area to access emergency and urgent care, would need to be fully addressed before any proposed transition by the HSE.

For this reason, I have asked the HSE to undertake a review of capacity. The review has been received and is currently under consideration.

From the week commencing 12 December, the existing ambulance bypass protocols, in place for Our Lady’s Hospital Navan, are being updated to address urgent patient safety matters to include patients who are critically or seriously unwell, or likely to deteriorate. I understand the HSE is communicating this change at local level, as necessary.