New services for Our Lady's from January

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has given more details about the return of surgery to Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, and expanded on plans for additional services to be introduced in the New Year. Following the publication of the Peyton Report which reviewed four cases of laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery carried out at Our Lady's, which was accepted in full by the HSE, the area manager for the Louth-Meath area established a group to implement all the report's recommendations. The HSE said the group, the Louth-Meath Hospital Surgical Services Implementation Group, has made significant progress and is looking to introduce more services next year, following the restoration of elective surgery to the hospital on 21st November. "A single department of surgery has been established, incorporating all of the resources and workload for the Louth-Meath Hospital Group," a HSE spokesperson said. "The next steps to be considered by the implementation group are the repatriation of all surgical referrals from Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, and the re-introduction of admissions of surgical patients to Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, who do not require acute surgical procedures," the spokesperson added. Briefing The group general manager and clinical director recently met with all heads of departments in Navan and briefed them on the progress to date. They also advised them of the next steps relating to further service developments in general surgery. "The introduction of a chronic pain service is expected to commence in January 2012, which will allow patients from the Louth-Meath area to receive this treatment instead of travelling to Dublin. Also, the establishment of a regional rheumatology service in Navan is planned for early September. "In addition to the full-time rheumatologist dedicated to this service, a second consultant post is forthcoming from the National Clinical Care Programmes, together with a musculoskeletal physiotherapist." The HSE said it wanted to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all staff and applaud them for achieving an overall 'green' rating in the latest published HSE Healthstat Report for August 2011. "This places Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, in the top performing hospitals category with an overall 'very good' performance rating," the HSE spokesperson said.