Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the recommendation to enhance services at the existing cath lab. The recommendation should be implemented without delay.

I take issue with the fact that Dr. Herity has claimed he engaged with important stakeholders in the south east. He did not visit Wexford General Hospital, St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny or South Tipperary General Hospital even though they are all hospitals in the region and catchment area of University Hospital Waterford. If he had done so, he would have heard the views of the consulted cardiologists in all of those hospitals and the GPs in the region who are critical stakeholders.

I repeat my three issues of concern. First, the base population and throughput data that Dr. Herity used in his report is fundamentally flawed. Second, he stated that it is possible to travel from Waterford to Cork in 90 minutes. That is the best estimate but it does not allow for outlying areas that is critical in terms of a heart attack and accessing interventional care. Third, I am deeply disturbed and suspicious about the fact that Department of Health officials gave a note to Dr. Herity prior to him completing his report. That scenario raises questions about the independence of his report.

I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State present or to the Minister for Health, but I am concerned given the context and history of this issue, the recommendations of Professor John Higgins who was appointed by the Government in 2012, and the commitments that were entered into at the highest levels in Government and also at the highest levels in the Department of Health. The 2013 commitments are on the record in the Department of Health and state:

The establishment of Hospital Groups will enhance cardiology cover in WRH. At present this is provided from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The increased flexibility of staff across the group will help enable us achieve our goal of providing cardiology cover at Waterford Regional Hospital 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What has changed since then? I deeply suspect that it is not the Minister for Health that is at issue here. I believe the Department of Health officials have an agenda. They are against the people who live in the south-east region and University Hospital Waterford due to being interested in providing efficiency in terms of health services. That efficiency excludes people who have an equal right to access care when they have a heart attack in the region. People are being deprived of that right. As a Government Senator, and as a former Minister of State, I am deeply disturbed by what has happened with the hospital groups, the non-committal of the commitments that were given, and also the non-establishment of hospital boards in three years.

The Dublin press and media have painted this matter as a local parish pump issue but that is not the case.This is a regional issue that potentially affects approximately 500,000 people and many of those have families who cannot access the service in an appropriate timescale. This is a matter of life and death and I do not say that lightly. I appeal to the Minister of State to take an alternative view and listen to the consultants who have made the alternative case. We often hear that doctors differ. This is one doctor who has given an opinion, there are many others giving a different opinion. If the Minister does not believe the people of Waterford he should go to Cork and listen to Professor John Higgins whom the Government appointed in 2013 and he will state the case.