David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The people in Waterford and the south east are angry and afraid. They are angry because of what happened to Thomas Power, who presented to the accident and emergency ward in University Hospital Waterford on Sunday with chest pains. He was suffering from cardiac complications. The cardiac unit, the emergency PPCI service, in the hospital was closed at the time. It closes at 5.30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and it is closed for the weekend. Rather than being admitted into the ward and treated by cardiologists, Mr. Power was put into an ambulance, in which he died 30 minutes outside Waterford.

A number of months ago, a number of regional clinicians and consultants met in Buswells Hotel in Dublin and robustly challenged Dr. Herity's findings. They said at the time that a decision not to enhance cardiology services in Waterford would cost lives. I spoke to those consultants today and they are livid. They are livid with the Department and HSE and they are also angry with the Minister. They and I accept that medical services should be provided on the basis of clinical and medical need but there is no justification whatsoever for people in a region with a population of 500,000 not to have access to emergency cardiac services out of hours from Monday to Friday and over weekends. Worse still, Dr. Herity recommended that all emergency services at the hospital cease. How is that report justified, therefore? How could it be stood over? We need a new review. Everything in the review is irrelevant unless it is based on the population of the south east. I sympathise with the family, to whom I have spoken personally. We have a job of work to do. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, and Deputy Butler and all the regional politicians who work together on this. If there is a new review, will it be based on the population of the region?

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