SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack, told a large crowd at a protest over the overcrowding in the Accident and Emergency Department of Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, county Meath, on Saturday, 21st January, that any reduction in capacity at the facility endangers the Tara Mines workforce. McCormack said: “It is a disgrace to have so many patients left on trolleys in Accident and Emergency Departments across the country. The HSE must address the problem of resourcing our emergency healthcare by maintaining Accident and Emergency departments in hospitals not by reducing their capacity. “The fact that near Navan we have Tara Mines, the largest lead and zinc mine in Europe, makes it crazy to think that any Minister for Health would allow the HSE to consider reducing the capacity of its local Accident and Emergency Department. This will put lives at risk if it is allowed to come into effect. “We are calling on politicians who have not yet expressed their support for the ‘Save Our Lady’s Hospital’ campaign to explain their reasoning to local communities in Meath and the general public. People deserve to know why they are not supporting the campaign.” He added: “We congratulate the activists in the SIPTU Meath District Council and the Meath Trades Council for supporting this campaign and we will continue to back them in their objective of safeguarding the Accident and Emergency Department in Our Lady’s Hospital.”
SIPTU says reduction in Navan A&E capacity endangers Tara Mines workforce
