Hundreds attend Save Navan Hospital protest in Kells

Two hearses provided a sombre start to a protest march to the HSE headquarters in Kells today at lunchtime, as the Save Navan Hospital Campaign continued its fight against proposals to close the Emergency Department at Our Lady's Hospital Navan.

The hearses took part to underline "the life and death consequences of the HSE's decision," according to campaign chair, Deputy Peadar Toibin.

Several hundred people took part in the march from the Primary Care Centre on the Navan Road through the town to the HSE Headquarters in Bective Street.

The marchers were also joined by Meath River Rescue members with their rescue and recovery boat.

At HSE headquarters, Deputy Toibin said; "Every one of the 220,000 people in Meath will some day need the A&E. Someday a member of your family will need quick access to emergency medicine. For some, access will determine whether they live or die.

"I have heard countless stories from people who have said that if it weren’t for the A&E in Navan they would not be alive today. I have also heard the horror stories from around the country of people dying for the want of access to timely A&E. "

Deputy Toibin said people power had kept the A&E open for 10 years.

"If we are going to keep it open for another 10 years it will take people power.

"We have mobilised 20,000 people onto the streets of Meath to save our A&E in two separate marches.

"We delivered a petition to the Minister’s for Health office just two weeks ago of 15,164 signatures from people demanding the protection of and investment in Navan A&E.

"And let the message go out loud and clear to the Government and the HSE we will not ever give up fighting for this key service.

"We are standing outside the HSE today and I want to say this - senior management on colossal wages are so far removed from the lives of the people that they are blind to what is happening in peoples lives. They have left 1.3 million people on hospital waiting lists. One in four Irish people are now waiting for key hospital treatment. Senior HSE management have created the worst A&E waiting times ever in the history of the state

"Let the HSE management hear us today. We are going nowhere. There will be an A&E in Navan long after you have retired on your gold plated pensions."

Deputy Darren O'Rourke described the HSE's plan as to close services at a time of record overcrowding as "madness."

"It is reckless. Overcrowding costs lives," he said.

"A record 910,000 people are now on some form of waiting list. This is up more than 68,000 since August 2020. Government must address the underlying issues of an overwhelming shortage of consultants, public hospital beds, theatre, and other frontline resources. We need to increase capacity, not close it.

"They plan to introduce a GP referral MAU. Meath has the lowest number of GPs per head of population in Ireland. They plan to close services at a time of crisis in the ambulance service. It is utterly reckless."

Deputy O'Rourke said that while there are safety concerns at Navan Hospital that need to be addressed, the HSE’s plan will make matters worse.

He recalled a letter from Drogheda consultants which stated; "The transfer of risk from an unsafe ED in Our Lady's Hospital in Navan to an under resourced Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda will lead to poorer clinical outcomes for patients,"

"It will not provide the right care for patients at the right time or at the right place"

"Let’s be clear. We need to see this for what it is - a tug of war between HSE and Government. The HSE needs to be brought to heel. They are not accountable to us but they are accountable to the Department and Minister for Health - and to the Government – and they are accountable to the people.

"We need to fight with every ounce of energy we have to protect our hospital. I will continue to do that. Sinn Féin will continue to do that. This campaign will continue and I'm sure you will continue," he said.

Senator Shane Cassells said the HSE was compiling a report "to tell us why they need to reconfigure Navan A&E."

"What they will produce will be a fairytale because the HSE telling us that the system will be safer is nonsense, given the fact that we can see with our own eyes the chaos in Drogheda A&E.

"So we stand here today outside the HSE offices to tell them....we're not believing your fairytales".

SIPTU's John Regan highlighted the need for Tara mines to have a "Full 24/7 A&E in Navan."

He warned Health Minister Stephen Donnelly not to leave behind a legacy of problems by going ahead with the closure of Navan's A&E.

"In three months time, there will be a new leadership and we may have a new Minister for Health," he said.

Mr Regan said that while there will be change, all stakeholders should be part of that change and the current committee carrying out the review does not represent all stakeholders.