A Waterford TD has again criticised the government for what he says is "shocking underfunding" of University Hospital Waterford.
Deputy Matt Shanahan made the claim in light of new figures which he claims clearly show UHW remains the lowest funded model four hospital in the country.
Speaking to WLR News, he outlined the disparity between UHW and other hospitals when it comes to capital funding.
“These figures, and the gross, unfair nature of them, absolutely highlight the fight that we have ahead of us, to see some parity of esteem implemented for UHW in 2024," he said.
"The figures show that UHW remains the lowest funded model four hospital in the country with the lowest head count of medical staff. It also has the lowest ratio of healthcare workers to beds in the model four system despite having a catchment of 530,000 patients in the South East."
According to the figures, obtained through a series of Parliamentary Questions by Deputy Shanahan, the total capital funding allocation for UHW between 2013 and 2023 was €83.58m (10.92% of the total budget).
This compares to €213.47m for University Hospital Cork (27.9%), €248.81 for University Hospital Galway (32.52%), and €219.3m for University Hospital Limerick (28.66%).
“A cursory review of these figures reveal that UHW received less than 11% of the combined capital investment of these four hospitals in a ten year period,” Deputy Shanahan said.
“If you review the capital figures for the life of this government (33rd Dail) you will see that component average fall a further 2% from 2020, with UHW receiving just €37.5 million capital as opposed to the peer average for Cork, Limerick and Galway of €129.7 million. These are eye-opening statistics that everyone in the South East needs to be aware of. I have been accused by some of sounding like a scratched record in the Dail by continuing to raise the underfunding of Waterford by the Government but there is no denying, or hiding from these figures.”
Deputy Shanahan told WLR News that he fears for the future of service delivery at the hospital if such underfunding continues and he has requested an emergency meeting with the Department of Health.
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