The plan to divert ambulances carrying critical and unstable patients away from Navan Hospital next week has been postponed by two days.
It had been due to begin on Monday 12 December, however the HSE confirmed today that the update to the ambulance protocol for Our Lady's Hospital Navan will now take effect on Wednesday 14 December instead.
The HSE said it made the decision due to planned industrial action in Northern Ireland.
"Due to expected industrial action in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service on Monday, which could lead to requests for support from the National Ambulance Service, we decided not to implement the new ambulance protocol on the same day. It will now take effect from Wednesday, December 14th."
The updated protocol means ambulances will no longer bring critically ill and unstable patients to Our Lady's Hospital Navan, and will instead transfer them to Level 3 and Level 4 hospitals.
At present, Navan is already bypassed for stroke, trauma, cardiac arrest, paediatrics and obstetrics patients.
The updated ambulance bypass protocol has been agreed by the Minister for Health and the HSE, "to address urgent patient safety matters for the small number of patients presenting in ambulances to Navan who are critically or seriously unwell or likely to deteriorate".
