Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have access to patients' files and I doubt Deputy Halligan does either. I think it inappropriate to raise such cases in the Dáil unless the Deputy has full access and expert knowledge of the case. I do not know whether that is the case. I may be incorrect, but at any given time in University Hospital Waterford there will be a consultant physician on call, if not a consultant cardiologist. Why the person was not called in a particular case, I cannot say.

I can guarantee that one thing that costs lives is the setting up of any specialist service that is not adequately staffed and does not have an adequate throughput to ensure quality and to ensure that those providing the service are able to keep their skills up to date. We have already seen this with cancer services, which is why they had to be centralised. In order to be viable, a 24-7 PCI service must serve a population of 500,000 to 1,000,000 people and it must also have at least six interventional cardiologists to provide a 24-7 cover rota. The most obvious first step in the improvement of services in the south east and Waterford is that the hours of the existing cath lab be extended, perhaps from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., covering Saturdays and Sundays. It is important to see whether the three cardiologists are able to cover the rota. We have had problems in other parts of the country where consultant cardiologists are unable to cover the rota. It is a much greater patient safety risk.

See this speech in context