Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has said that grieving families in the South-East may be “left in limbo” by government failure and a looming crisis in post-mortem and coroner services at University Hospital Waterford (UHW).

Deputy Cullinane was responding to reports that consultant pathologists at UHW have formally notified management that they intend to withdraw from performing coroner-directed post-mortems from January 2026, due to unsafe workloads and chronic understaffing.

Speaking today, Deputy Cullinane said:

“This will be an extremely serious situation.  It means that from January 2026, families in Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary could face indefinite delays in burying their loved ones because the government will have failed to ensure adequate staffing and support for essential pathology services. UHW currently operates with just six consultant pathologists and has been unable to recruit new staff because of the heavy burden of coroner’s autopsies alongside diagnostic work.  The service requires four full-time equivalent pathologists dedicated solely to coronial post-mortems, but recruitment has failed because of excessive workloads and lack of support.”

“This crisis has been known to both the HSE and the Department of Justice for more than a year, yet no action plan has been developed or published.”

He believes the situation will be a source of extreme distress for already grieving families.

“The Department of Justice established a so-called ‘Standing Committee’ on coroners’ post-mortems two years ago, but little progress has been made for hospitals like UHW.

“There is still no plan, no timeline, and no guarantee that post-mortem services will continue after January 2026 and to what extent.  The Government’s failure to adequately plan will cause immense distress for families.  A proper workforce plan identifies shortages in key areas and ensures training posts are increased and more places become available.

“I am calling on the Ministers for Health and Justice to immediately intervene and to ensure everything possible is done to ensure UHW and the South-East will not be left without a functioning coroner service.”

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