10,000 protest over Navan health cuts on Saturday – RTÉ / Photos

RTÉ reports on Saturday:-

10,000 protestors are attending a rally in Co Meath as part of a campaign to oppose cuts in services at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan.

The thousands of people from Navan and across County Meath who marched through the town today say the recent cuts will reduce the role of Our Lady's Hospital in Navan to that of a community hospital and day care centre.

The protestors are concerned that with patients will be forced to travel outside the county either to Louth or Dublin for serious care.

A report to the HSE in 2005 recommended merging the five hospitals in the North Eastern area into two hospitals and developing a super-regional hospital in Drogheda.

The Health Service Executive has already ended acute and emergency surgery at the hospital on the grounds of patient safety.

Campaigners say they want a commitment from the HSE that no further services will be withdrawn.

The Executive has said that while there are no plans to close the hospital, more services will eventually be transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

SPEAKING in Navan at the rally in support of Our Lady's Hospital, Sinn Féin Health & Children spokesperson and Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (above) called on communities across the country to unite in support of their hospitals and of the public health service.

Local public hospitals have for long been under attack due to Government and HSE policies of privatisation and centralisation.  Nowhere is this more acute than in the North-East where vital services have been axed in Navan, Monaghan and Dundalk hospitals.

Now our public health services are under attack from the savage health cuts being imposed by the Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government.

People across the country have been mobilising in support of their hospitals and the public health service. This should continue as communities unite against the cuts.