DAMIEN DAMIEN ENGLISHENGLISH TDTD

NAVAN NEWS - HEALTH➧ 10,000 people cannot be ignored

- Save our hospital➧ FG reaffi rms commitment

to Navan Hospital➧ Planning Process for

Regional Hospital➧ Fine Gael’s FairCare Policy➧ 24 hr CT Scan Service➧ Self Help Childcare & the Elderly

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Fine Gael re-affi rms commitment to Navan HospitalNovember 2010 Fine Gael is committed to the cause of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan and the need for keeping the services there until the new Regional Hospital is built. Damien English TD, Dr James Reilly TD & all local Fine Gael public representatives attended the monster public rally on October 30th in Navan to show our support for the cross community, cross party ‘Save Our Hospital’ campaign. The Fine Gael health spokesperson spoke about the need for the hospital to remain open. He is a GP in North County Dublin and is aware that there is not enough capacity at other hospitals in the North East and in Dublin to take Navan’s patients.

Damien English & Dr. Reilly had met with over 100 medical & support staff from Navan Hospital in September to hear their concerns and to speak about plans for the hospital under a Fine Gael led Government. The two also met with local GP’s and Consultants to ascertain their opinions on the surgical services that were withdrawn from the hospital at the time. Dr. Reilly has challenged the HSE to a public debate on the issue of Navan Hospital but to no avail.Prior to the General Election of 2007 Damien English TD secured the commitment from the then Fine Gael Health Spokesperson to maintain services at Navan hospital & to keep it open. The election result did not return Fine Gael to Government at the time – hence the black cloud continues to lie over Navan Hospital. Fine Gael is committed to the cause of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan and the need for keeping the services there until the new Regional Hospital is built.

Get the new Regional Hospital through the Planning Process July 2010Damien English TD has called on the HSE and the Department for Health to apply now for planning permission for the proposed new Regional General hospital that is to be located in Navan.

This would be an encouraging step in the right direction for the delivery of this much needed hospital for all residents in the North East. The plan to build a new regional hospital makes total and utter sense; we must be ready to hit the road running with construction when economic conditions allow it. By getting through the planning process now we would be in a much better position to advance the project.

The Government have put the project on hold even though a site in Navan has been picked and a lot of effort was put in on identifying the site. The project should be going through the planning process. It is capital expenditure, not current expenditure. The Government should not necessarily be cutting back on essential capital expenditure like this hospital in times of recession. The work could be done easily through a public private partnership or through other mechanisms to attain funding. In fact the cost of construction has come down some 30%, this provides better bang for the taxpayers buck when it comes to Government spending”

We accept it will take a number of years to build the facilities as proposed but the hospital will be good for patients, the taxpayer and the local economy because it will save money in the longer term, in addition to saving lives and making life much more convenient for those in the North East. Damien English TD reiterated Fine Gael’s commitment to keeping services at Navan hospital until the Regional Hospital is in place.

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Damien English TD - Your Voice in Meath West

Damien English TD lashes Minister in Dáil DebatesHarney admits surgery cuts down to budgets

October 2010Link: http://media.heanet.ie/oireachtas/asx.php?Channel=Dail&Date=20101005&StartTime=05:17:34.000&Duration=00:03:30.000Damien English TD demanded that the government reverses its crazy decision to close elective surgery at Navan Hospital. He stated that current government policy is bad for Navan. Minister Harney should come clean to the people of the North East on what she wants to do with the hospital network here. He asked her to step in and prevent a ‘domino effect’ from causing more services at Navan to be withdrawn.

July 2010Link: http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20100707.xml&Node=H18&Page=16Damien English TD raised his fears that services would be cut by the HSE at Navan Hospital. He appealed with the Minister to revaluate her plans for the Hospital. Speaking in the Dáil he stated that it is wrong for the people of Meath who need an operation to be put on a waiting list for a hospital in Dublin. It is unacceptable that people are waiting for two or three weeks in hospitals in the North East before being given a bed in an overcrowded Dublin hospital. The Minister knows it is wrong but has failed to act.

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Self Help Childcare & the ElderlyAugust 2010Damien English TD and Cllr Suzanne Jamal want to remind all the families in Navan and surrounding areas that their dream of self help childcare projects can and will be realised with your help and the help of their Fine Gael colleagues. The same is their message when it comes to the care of the elderly. If you identify any senior citizen in your area in need of help, please contact Suzanne in confi dence on 087 7971297.

Fine Gael’s Health Policy Talk in MeathApril 2010 Dr James Reilly TD stated “We want to take this opportunity to tell you how Fine Gael’s FairCare Policy will deliver improved medical care for you and your loved ones through our existing hospital network. Over the last 10 years the health service has become a shambles. We regularly have over 350 people on trolleys in A&E, waiting lists that go on for months, outpatient waiting lists that go on for years and cancelled operations across the country”

So how do we fi x this? FairCare will slash waiting lists, for a fraction of the money spent on the NTPF every year. We will then introduce a “money-follows-the-patient” budgeting system so that hospitals are paid for how many patients they treat. Patients will no longer be seen as “costs” to the health service, but as sources of “income”.Finally, we will deliver Universal Health Insurance where every man, woman and child will be insured, some fully subsidised, some partially subsidised by the Government.We will also develop new primary care centres where groups of GPs with other health care professionals will treat patients out of modern purpose built premises with access to x-ray, ultrasound and endoscopy so that patients can be diagnosed in their communities by the doctors who know them best.

Further details on this can be got at www.faircare.ie

Damien English TD - Your Voice in Meath West

Damien English TD, Cllr Suzanne Jamal and Cllr Jim Holloway pictured outside Our Lady's Hospital, Navan.

24 Hour CT Scan Service is Welcome NewsJune 2010

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Damien English TD, Cllr Jim Holloway & Fine Gael in Navan have welcomed the provision of a CT scan service on a 24 hour basis in Our Lady’s Hospital. This was a positive development for Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan.

This step will not only result in reducing the risk to patients but also will be cost effective for the HSE as less patients will have to be transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda which is already overstretched.

www.faircare.ie

www.faircare.ie

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Damien English TD20 Watergate St, Navan, Co. Meath. Ph: 046 9071667 Fax: 046 9072225Email: denglish@oireachtas.ie

Your Fine Gael team in Navan

Cllr Jim HollowayMeath County Council 086 2355236 Navan Town Council

Cllr Suzanne JamalMeath County Council 087 7971297Navan Town Council

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10,000 people cannot be ignored - Save our hospital

November 2010 Damien English TD was delighted with the massive turnout by people from all over Meath to Navan on the 30th October for the public rally organised by the ‘Save Navan Hospital’ campaign. A clear message has been sent to Minister Dempsey, Minister Harney, the HSE and all FF government TD’s that the people of Meath demand that services are kept in Our Lady’s hospital. I do hope they sit up and listen to the people and clear the uncertainty over services at Navan.I want to thank everyone who made the effort of turning up on the day to march in support of the hospital campaign. A big thank you to the hundreds of volunteers from the ‘Save Navan Hospital’ campaign that made the monster rally

possible. A lot of time and effort has been put in by all over the past few months to drive the campaign forward. Keep up to date on developments at www.savenavanhospital.com. Pressure must be kept on government to restore services at Our Lady’s. It is important to stress that the A&E Department is still running on a 24 hour basis. We urge you, the people of Navan to be aware of this and make use of this service rather than travelling to other hospitals for the problems which can be seen in our local hospital. This will help to send a message to Government & the HSE that it is vital to keep these services in place. We will be keeping a close eye on developments and will keep you informed of any future happenings.

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