Sinn Fein TD for Meath West Johnny Guirke has said the latest trolley figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation shows that the people of Meath have a right to be worried.
He told Meath Live, ‘The HSE are continuing with their position of closing Our Lady of Navan Hospital emergency department down and redirecting patients from Navan to Drogheda hospital for ‘’safety’’ reasons.
‘The latest INMO trolley figures show that the number of people waiting on trolleys at Drogheda has increased 500% since last year, rising from 27 people this time last year to a whopping 137 people. At the same time, 33 people were waiting on trolleys in Navan.
‘This is on top of the news that 25,000 people were waiting longer than 24 hours for admission at emergency departments across the state between January to May.
‘Figures released by the INMO, also show that people waiting on trolleys in June 2022 has nearly doubled with 9,961 waiting on trolley’s compared to last year’s figure in June of 5,179.
‘We know that a ‘’national working group’’ was formed by the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, but what we don’t know is who is in this group, or indeed what they were asked to review.
‘Sinn Fein have continuously called for more investment in our health service at Navan Hospital, and to build more capacity which would enhance services in Navan.
‘I would hope that our Ministers in Meath are looking at these figures of people waiting on trolleys in Navan and Drogheda, and indeed across the state and are genuinely worried about their constituents having to be redirected from one county to another.
‘I know I am.’
