Navan Hospital to maintain current role for now: HSE

The immediate future for Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, is to maintain its current role, an official of the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said. The HSE's Dublin North-East Hospital Network Manager Willie Rattigan said that, under the current phase of the transformation plan for services in the region, the Louth-Meath Steering Group was focusing on the transfer of acute medical services from the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk to Drogheda. "It is envisaged to continue with transformation involving Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, within the next phase of the programme," he said. A member of the Dublin North-East Regional Health Forum, Cllr Bill Tormey, had asked at a recent meeting in Kells what was the immediate future role of the hospital, given the recent opening of the M3 motorway. Cllr Tormey had asked if the HSE management could inform forum members of the methods used to select or choose members of any committee or board set up to progress the transformation programme, if management could give details of the current updated plan for transformation; what was the relationship intended to develop between Connolly Hospital (which services south Meath as part of its remit) and Beaumont Hospital, and what relationship was intended to develop between the Mater Hospital and any other hospital in the Dublin North-East HSE sub-division. The HSE replied that there were two key groups formed to progress the transformation programme in the north-east - the NE Transformation Leadership Group and the Louth-Meath Steering Group. The six-member leadership group comprises Stephen Mulvany, regional director of operations; Dr Colm Quigley, clinical advisor to NE Transformation; Dr Declan Bedford, assistant director of public health medicine; Willie Rattigan, hospital network manager; Dr Joe Clarke, GP advisor to the HSE, and Emma Benton, NE Transformation programme co-ordinator. This is the overall governance team in the north-east. All members of the leadership group were selected as they were senior managers within the HSE and had the relevant skills/experience and authority to drive the programme forward, the HSE said. The 23 members of the Louth-Meath Steering Group were named in the report to the forum. Mr Rattigan told forum members that the current plan for transformation of services in the north-east included the transfer of acute medical, critical care and emergency services from Dundalk to Drogheda. A number of projects, including new developments at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, in the ambulance services, and in step-down facilities, would facilitate this move. Certain aspects of this project's planning programme had had to be accelerated to compensate for the shortage of junior doctors in certain hospitals on 1st July last. As regards the relationship between the Mater and other hospitals in the north-east, a regional acute forum had been established, consisting of the hospital CEOs, clinical directors and regional management. The aim of this group was to make recommendations on how hospitals could be better aligned to improve services and increase efficiencies. "In regard to relationships between other hospitals in the region, we have established a regional acute planning forum to take a strategic view of the role and linkages between hospitals and community services. "The membership of the forum consists of the CEOs and clinical directors of the hospitals together with the RDO, hospital network staff, population health and the regional leads for primary care and older persons. "This group is building strong relationships, not only between hospitals, but also with key community services," the health forum members were told.