“Beyond reprehensible” – that’s how the impending 12 week closure of University Hospital Waterford’s Emergency Interventional Cardiac Cath Lab is being described.
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane yesterday confirmed the closure to KCLR News while maintenance works are carried out. A contingency plan will see an extension of the availability of a modular lab on site but it will not be able to cater for certain emergencies.
Matt Shanahan is with Health Equality for the South East – he says it leaves the region without the service for three months noting “It appears that there may be some elective work will go on in the modular lab, it’s a second lab which is like a temporary lab, which will be able to do a small amount of work but it will not be able to cater to any emergency patient so they will not have a service available in Waterford, it’ll be a mandatory transport to Dublin or Cork”.
The closure follows numerous calls for the setting up of a second such full-time facility at the same site & Mr Shanahan says the Minister’s given a commitment for that but with no funding timelines and now’s the time to rectify that.
He’s been outlining his plea to KCLR News “I want to see a commitment now from the Department of Health that a second lab is going ahead, I want a commitment that we will get a 24 / 7 service in the region to bring this region up into line with the other five national primary PCI centres and I want to see our ministers, particularly those outside Waterford ministers Phelan, Keogh & D’Arcy along with John Halligan demanding this of the Minister, we shouldn’t have to wait for further reviews.
Meanwhile, in a statement to KCLR News the HSE says that “the equipment in University Hospital Waterford’s existing main Cath Lab is now 12 years old and funding of €850,000 has been secured to facilitate its replacement and upgrading”.
It adds that “The options to manage patients during the equipment installation and upgrading is currently being discussed and involves the expertise of the Cardiology Team. It is estimated that the upgrading will take between 10 to 12 weeks to complete.”
The hospital is to provide further details once commencement dates and patient management arrangements are agreed.
