HSE decision: surgical service ends:ALL ACUTE and emergency surgery is to end at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan, Co Meath, with immediate effect, the Health Service Executive announced yesterday.
It said orthopaedic surgery would not be affected and that medical assessment and the 24-hour emergency department would remain open.
Some staff will have to transfer to other hospitals in the region as a result, although the HSE declined to say how many until it had engaged in a consultation process with staff and union representatives.
Staff were called to briefing meetings yesterday morning with Dr Doiminic Ó Brannagáin, clinical director of the Louth-Meath Hospital Group.
In a statement, the executive said all acute and emergency surgery would cease at the hospital immediately. “The decision has been made in the interest of providing the highest quality of service to patients and following expert clinical advice.”
It said the A&E department would continue to function on a 24-hour basis. Anyone needing surgery would be transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Cavan General Hospital, the Mater, Beaumont or Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.
It said this would be an interim arrangement until capacity is increased at Drogheda.
Dr Ó Brannagáin said that because of the volume and complexity of the surgical activity at Navan it was “no longer tenable” to perform those surgeries and they should be moved to alternative sites.
He said about four patients were assessed at Navan each day for diagnostic or surgical intervention. One in four required acute surgery, including appendectomy, hernia surgery and gall bladder surgery. “The remainder of the surgery is elective surgery procedures.”
He said there would be no redundancies as a result of the announcement. According to the HSE, almost 500 full-time jobs are supported at the hospital, including over 200 nursing staff.
Irish Nurses and Midwives Association representative Tony Fitzpatrick said staff were “absolutely furious” and felt they had not been properly briefed on plans before yesterday.
Dr Niall Maguire, secretary of the Meath faculty of the Irish College of General Practitioners, said he believed the hospital would be totally wound down.
He said Navan had been shown to be “a perfectly safe environment and these surgeons highly competent to undertake all basic and intermediate-level surgery”.
Siptu representative Margi Dunne said she was “very angry” at how the issue had been handled.
She said union representatives had been assured at a meeting with HSE management in June that services at Navan hospital were not in danger.
Fine Gael TD Damien English said the decision was “a disgrace”.
“This policy of downgrading Navan hospital makes no sense, especially when services are being transferred to hospitals which are already at over-capacity. These decisions are being taken for purely political reasons.”
Labour health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said it was “only a matter of time before Minister for Health Mary Harney and the HSE tells us that the hospital is no longer viable and will have to close totally”.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Joe Reilly expressed concern about the downgrading of services, including psychiatric services.