Hospital Inspections
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
============================================================

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

I thank the Deputy. I reaffirm that the Government is committed to investing in Navan hospital. Since 2020, the number of whole-time equivalent staff has increased by 17.5%. During the same period, the budget increased by 51%. Under the acute hospital bed expansion plan, a total of 46 new and replacement beds will be delivered at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan by 2031, which includes 31 beds delivered between 2021 and 2024 and another 15 beds between 2025 and 2028. A new minor injuries unit is planned for Navan hospital. I am advised by the HSE that this is progressing through the detailed design and procurement phases. Construction is expected to commence in quarter 4 of 2026, with an indicative operational date of 2027, which is good for the area.
As part of its statutory role, HIQA conducted unannounced inspections of Our Lady's Hospital in Navan in June 2024 and November 2025. It is important to note that, at the follow-up inspection, HIQA recognised that the hospital had made progress since 2024, even where the formal compliance ratings did not change. It is important that I state that.
I would also like to outline the suite of service and safety enhancements being implemented in Navan hospital. I am informed by the HSE that additional staffing across primary care and older person services has enhanced the management of chronic conditions. Consultant-led chronic disease teams for respiratory and cardiology services will be developed in 2026. The new Navan patient quality and safety board was established last year to provide enhanced oversight of the safe and effective transition of care between Navan hospital and the HSE Dublin and North East region generally, as is the case for many hospitals. That led to the development of different and robust policies and procedures which will be further improved this year.
Several risk mitigation strategies have also been implemented, including the utilisation of the orthopaedic unit during periods of high activity and the implementation of surge capacity. In addition, acute surgical services are maintained to allow for patient stabilisation prior to transfer, as is the case in many other hospitals, along with integrated bed management solutions which link community and acute bed services. There are also ambulance bypass protocols, to which I will come back.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21