Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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125. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on recent service reconfigurations at Navan Hospital and plans for further reconfiguration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6921/23]

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, and engagement in relation to this matter is ongoing.

The ambulance bypass protocols in place for Our Lady's Hospital Navan were updated in December 2022 to address urgent patient safety matters to include people who are critically ill or with any acute surgical problem. Existing bypass protocols are already in place for paediatrics, obstetrics, major trauma, STEMI care, and stroke care patients.