It's been confirmed that the new second permanent Cath Lab to be constructed at University Hospital Waterford will provide interventional services, according to a Waterford Senator.
Campaign groups had hit out at the government following a Parliamentary Question which stated that the “preferred option for the development of the second Cath Laboratory at UHW is for the lab on the roof of the existing Cardiology Department, which will operate five days a week and provide diagnostic services only”.
The South East Patient Advocacy Group (SEPAG) and 24/7 Cardiac Cover for the South East said this was "both preposterous and absurd. We were promised a 24/7 PPCI service at UHW. In order for same to be implemented, would require two cath labs, fully equipped to carry out both diagnostics and PPCI procedures, which is what we were promised because one interventional cath lab is a single point of failure".
However, responding to Senator Cummins on Monday, the CEO of the South South-West hospital group, Mr. Gerry O’Dwyer confirmed “I have received confirmation from HSE Estates that the equipment for the 2nd Cath Lab will be the same equipment recently installed in the newly upgraded existing Cath Lab and will have full interventional capabilities”.
Senator Cummins said he was satisfied with the response:
"While the second permanent lab will likely carry out planned work involving diagnostics, it is vitally important it has interventional capabilities in order to address the single point of failure concerns and to enable planned work to proceed in an efficient manner.”
He added: “Hospital management has confirmed that the service will move to an 8-8, 7 day a week service shortly but obviously the goal of every Oireachtas member in Waterford is to have a full 24/7 cardiac service, however that cannot be achieved without two fully operational interventional labs. That is why this confirmation today is so welcome and the expected commencement of works this quarter".
Meanwhile, figures released by Sinn Fein's health spokesperson David Cullinane show the increase in cardiac waiting times over the past three years.
The number of inpatients waiting on a procedure has grown from 417 in 2019 to 730, while those on the outpatient lists have increased from 1,484 in 2019 to 1,715 in 2020.
