Hospital A&E which saved countless lives to be axed

Warnings that patients could die and waiting lists will increase if proposals to strip Our Lady's Hospital in Navan of its emergency services go ahead have come this week from angry local campaigners. What has been described as the 'final death knell' for the Navan Hospital was sounded this week following the announcement by the HSE that the accident and emergency unit is to be reduced to a 12-hour service, possibly as early as next year, and will later be reduced to a minor incident unit. The announcement was greeted with anger and dismay by hospital campaigners and former patients who say they owe their lives to the hospital. Local GPs have also warned that the proposals are doomed to fail if it is dependent on doctors giving more care to patients at home, as GP services are already overstretched. Our Lady's Hospital will also be stripped of its acute general medicine and critical care services under the HSE's Transformation Programme for the North-East, details of which were announced last week. "People will die," was the stark warning issued by Wayne Forde of the Save our Lady's Hospital Campaign this week. "Somebody having a heart attack in Athboy or Kells could be dead by the time they get to Drogheda, It is unbelievable what is going on," he said. "There are thousands of people walking around today that wouldn't be here only for Our Lady's Hospital and unless they start fighting this proposal, it will be gone," he said. Mr Forde said he would be writing to local Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Sinn Fein politicians asking them to leave politics aside and to fight tooth and nail together to save the hospital. Chairman of the Friends of Our Lady's Hospital, Derry Fitzgerald, said that the removal of the accident and emergency unit in Navan was a scandal. "I know a lot of people who wouldn't be here today only for Our Lady's Hospital and I have reason to be grateful to them myself," he said. He pointed out that Navan was a mining town and needed a proper A&E department. "There are a lot of people working in the mine and I hate to think if anything happened that they would have to be dragged across to Drogheda," he said. He pointed out that the Friends of the Hospital had raised millions of euros for equipment for the hospital over the years. "That shows how much people value Our Lady's Hospital," he said. Seamus Carroll, who was rushed from Clonmellon to Navan when he suffered a major heart attack 18 months ago, is certain he wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Our Lady's Hospital. "I owe Our Lady's Hospital my life. Only for the quick thinking of the staff there, I wouldn't be here today. What will happen to others like me in the future?" he asked. Navan GP, Dr Niall Maguire, said that nearly all the doctors in the region were against the current proposals. He pointed out the new regional hospital had been an integral part of the Transformation Programme and, if it was done properly, there would have been support for the it, but now most family doctors had serious concerns about inadequate provisions in Drogheda. "They are providing extra beds and emergency facilities, but it is barely enough to cope with Drogheda and Dundalk," he said. He pointed out that the HSE were proposing earlier discharges from hospital but these weren't always a great idea. "This will mean an extra workload on GPs at a time when less money is going into general practice," he said, "If the whole project is dependant on doctors doing more for patients at home, then it is doomed to fail," he warned. Dr Maguire said there were concerns that the proposals would mean increased waiting times or appointments and already there were waiting lists for hip surgery, and appointments with urology and dematology services. The proposed changes to services in Navan include centralising emergency services, acute general medicine and critical care services in Drogheda. The HSE has confirmed that planning would commence on the transfer of ambulance-borne trauma from Navan to Our Lady of Lourdes when its new emergency department opens before the end of the year. The transfer of emergency and acute services from Navan is expected to begin next year and future services at Our Lady's Hospital will include day medical and surgical services, a 12-hour minor accident unit, rehab units, outpatient services, laboratory and radiology, stroke rehabilitation, ENT, CT scanning and care of elderly assessment.