The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been left in no doubt of the fierce opposition by local doctors to plans to close the Emergency Department in Our Lady's Hospital in Navan at night.

A letter signed by well over 100 local GPs strongly condemns any proposal to cut 24 hour cover Navan's accident and emergency service.

In a separate development, the HSE has indicated that work to replace the existing prefabricated building which houses Navan's Emergency Department could begin later this year. A spokesperson indicated that the project is currently the subject of a planning application. The doctors wrote to the HSE regarding proposals by the HSE to remove services from Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, including closing the Emergency Department from 8pm to 8am in the near future.

The letter from medical practitioners working in the North East region states they are "unequivocally utterly opposed to any such downgrading".

"We believe that any further removal of acute medical, emergency, intensive care, surgical or psychiatry services from Navan would represent a serious threat to the health and safety of our patients".

To read the full story see this week's Meath Chronicle.