Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some weeks ago, I bought to the Tánaiste’s attention a National Office of Clinical Audit report into heart attack and ambulance transfer times, which showed that patients in the south east are being delayed by up to 11 hours in the context of having cardiac interventions done. Last Wednesday, another patient, a 48-year-old mother of two, was rushed at midnight down to Cork hospital. She was chased by her husband in the car behind, who was wondering if she was going to survive. Her stenting operating took five and a half hours to complete, which is three and a half hours outside the clinical timeframe. How much longer will Government stand over this ludicrous transfer policy within the south-east region? How much longer are we going to stand over endangering hospital and ambulance personnel and patients in this race down to Cork? Beyond that, I ask the Tánaiste, as a doctor and as our future Taoiseach, how much longer is he going to continue to defend the policy to deny the south-east region a 24-7 cardiac care service? It is the only region in the country to be denied such a service.

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