University Hospital Waterford to provide cardiac care after 10 years of campaigning
Sarah Slater
University Hospital Waterford is to start providing 24/7 cardiac care after 10 years of campaigning by the public to have the service provided for the southeast region.
From 8am on Monday, the new round-the-clock Primary PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention) means patients suffering serious cardiac arrests can receive emergency treatment at any time of the day or night instead of having to make round-trip journeys of 246 kilometres to Cork or 340kms to Dublin.
PPCI is an emergency procedure used to open a completely blocked coronary artery during a severe heart attack.
The hospital has been providing a 12-hour service from 8 am to 8 pm, since March last year. There had been an 8 am to 5 pm service operating from UHW for several years.
The HSE has confirmed that the service will be expanded from this month and will cover the HSE Dublin and the south-east region.
Former independent TD for Waterford Matt Shanahan, who has been one of many campaigners calling for the round-the-clock service for nearly 15 years.
Shanahan highlighted that data from 2015 to 2018 showed that less than three per cent of patients in the southeast region were getting to a cardiac centre within the clinical time frame.
A 2016 report cited that "emergency patients could be adequately dealt with from this region by transporting them to either centres in Dublin and Cork", which he was "resisted forcibly" by clinicians in Waterford at the time also.
Data from 2015 to 2018 showed that less than three per cent of patients in the southeast region were getting to a cardiac centre within the clinical time frame, Mr Shanahan said.
Minister of State for Local Government and Planning John Cummins said the introduction of the new 24/7 service marks a “significant day” for Waterford and the southeast region.
The Minister said the move marks a “new chapter for cardiac services” at UHW.
“I want to acknowledge all who have campaigned tirelessly and worked hard to ensure this service has become a reality – from advocacy groups, to consultants, hospital management and all my government colleagues past and present,” Minister Cummins continued.
He said that the provision of the service “is unquestionably an issue which has transcended political lines. The (addition) of the second cath lab was key, but so too was the move to a 8am to 8pm weekday service and then the extension to a 8am to 8pm weekend service.”
The deputy acknowledged the work done by the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and hospital management over the past twelve months to “ensure this final significant step to 24/7 was taken”.
Local Sinn Fein councillor David Cullinane added that the new service will “save lives and give people across our region access to the emergency treatment they deserve, when they need it most”.
Cullinane highlighted that “this is a victory for everyone who fought for it over so many years, patients, families, clinicians, healthcare workers, trade unions, campaigners and the wider community.
“Together, we refused to accept second-class healthcare for the southeast”.
