Cathaoirleach of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign Peadar Tóibín TD delivered 15,164 petition signatures to the Minister for Health’s Office today. Speaking at the delivery An Teachta Tóibín stated;
“In just a few weeks 15,164 people signed a petition to tell the Minister for Health, the HSE and the Government to stop trying to close the A&E at Our Lady’s Hospital Navan.
“The petition also sought funding to ensure that the A&E in Navan is as safe as any other A&E in the country. The voices of these people need to be listed too.
“The context to the threat of closure is recorded A&E waiting times and overcrowding and two local hospitals, Cavan and the Mater, just in the last week telling patients not to show up at their A&E. Closing capacity in a capacity crisis is dangerous. This has been stated clearly in 2 separate letters by 23 Hospital Consultants in Drogheda Hospital, which would bear the brunt of any closure in Navan”.
“The political context to this is an unprecedented public battle between the Minister for Health and the HSE. The Minister has directed the HSE to pause the closure and carry out a review and the HSE has responded to say that they will close the hospital A&E in September review or no review. There is a governmental authority deficit here and is way beyond time that the Minister gets a grip on the situation. As a campaign we are defiant. We will fight to the end to save this key health infrastructure. There will be a march on the 16 of September at 1 pm on the HSE offices in Kells, Co Meath and we will ratchet up the pressure with direct action in the capital a few weeks after that. This is too important for the people of Meath to give up”.
