The HSE decision to insist ambulances bypass Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan and ferry patients to Drogheda’s Lourdes hospital is to be amended and it is likely the change will have happened within hours.
Senior government sources have told Meath Live that the protocol which was due to come into place next Wednesday after the original start date of Monday was deferred, was a decision nobody was happy with.
One source claimed, ‘The decision to bypass Navan was not one Gerry McEntee agreed with, not one the Lourdes agreed with and not one that Navan agreed with and went much further than the government originally agreed with.
‘When health minister Stephen Donnelly was alerted that what had actually been set to be implemented was much wider than what had originally been agreed he reacted swiftly to assert his authority.
‘He set up a meeting for this afternoon, (Friday), and the likely outcome is that only critically ill patients or those whose condition is likely to deteriorate will bypass Navan.’
Another source added, ‘The new protocol is understandable and sensible and it is hard to imagine too many people will fall out with it, it seems HSE bosses overstepped what had been agreed with government and have been reminded who is running the show.’
