Ambulance bypass plan "dangerous and reckless in the extreme"
Plans to have ambulances bypass the Emergency Department (ED) in Navan from next Monday have been described as "dangerous and reckless in the extreme" amid calls for an investigation into chaotic scenes of overcrowding at the ED in Drogheda on Saturday night.
At one stage eleven ambulances were stuck outside the Drogheda hospital on Saturday night - unable to drop patients off or respond to 999 calls.
Some crews were waiting outside the emergency department for five hours before there was a place for their patient.
Plans are in place for critically ill patients to be diverted from Navan hospital to Drogheda in a further reconfiguration of services, starting next Monday 12th December.
The Save Navan Hospital Campaign is holding a public meeting tomorrow night (Wednesday) in the Newgrange Hotel to ramp up opposition to the move and warned they have no option but to challenge the action on the streets and in the courts. The campaign has also called for a HIQA investigation to the scenes at Drogheda on Saturday night.
"We are calling on HIQA to investigate the events of Saturday night. It was horrendous. There were no beds, no trolleys, no chairs for those arriving by ambulance.
"It meant delays in diagnoses and treatment for those in the ambulances, but it also meant there were no ambulances to respond to further calls," said campaign chairman, Deputy Peadar Tóibín.
Local GPs have been informed the second phase of the transformation would see the Emergency Department at Navan Hospital "reconfigured" to a 24-hour Medical Assessment Unit. This is planned for early New Year with a date to be confirmed.
Deputy Darren O'Rourke said the proposals are "dangerous and reckless in the extreme."
"The chaotic scenes at the Lourdes at the weekend confirm my, worst concerns. The Lourdes is not fit to cope with the work it already has. Any plan that would heap additional work on that hospital is simply outrageous.
"Lives are at risk. The Minister for Health must intervene. He must set out a plan for investment in acute and emergency services at Navan Hospital."
A spokesperson for the HSE said the National Ambulance Service (NAS) operates on a national basis and mobilises responses to calls for assistance based on patient needs.
"Ambulances may travel to and be dispatched from various locations irrespective of their base as they are not confined to work in geographical areas. The current deployment model is designed around international best practice and has eliminated previous practices where the nearest ambulance was not always dispatched due to former legacy boundaries."
She said a key challenge for the health service is the consistent and sustained increase of emergency attendances and admissions in hospitals throughout the State.
"Over 1.27m people have attended emergency departments so far this year, many of them frail, elderly people with varied and complex healthcare needs."
She said there had been a 7.2 per cent increase overall in ED attendances, a 3.8 per cent increase in ED admissions.
"Emergency departments always prioritise and treat the sickest patients first, by means of a standardised and well validated process known as triage. This means that patients requiring less urgent care may have to wait longer times to be seen and this includes patients who arrive by ambulance, not requiring emergency and urgent care. National Ambulance Service and emergency department staff work together to ensure patients are transferred to hospital care as quickly and as safely as possible."
She said this winter the HSE is investing over €168million to support hospitals and community services, including a total of 51 new Emergency Medicine Consultants, 20 NCHDs and 101 staff nurses for emergency departments.