David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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830. To ask the Minister for Health if the option of having two distinct PPCI centres here namely a 24-7 service or a 9 to 5 service as per the model of ACS services will remain in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13304/17]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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831. To ask the Minister for Health if there are grounds upon which emergency PPCI services will cease at UHW; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13305/17]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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832. To ask the Minister for Health if he will rule out ceasing limited PPCI services at UHW; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13306/17]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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837. To ask the Minister for Health if the national review of PPCI services is regarding the way to implement the recommendations of the Herity report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13311/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 830 to 832, inclusive, and 837 together.

The Deputy will be aware that in his review of cath lab services in UHW, Dr Niall Herity recommended that the UHW cath lab should operate as an elective lab which provides all specialised cardiac services except interventional treatment for patients who are having heart attacks (PPCI). Dr. Herity also recommended that the current 9 to 5 provision of these services should cease in order to allow the hospital to focus on the much larger volume of planned cath lab work.

I accept Dr Herity's findings and recommendations and have provided additional funding of €.5m for the UHW in 2017 which will enable the hospital to provide 8 hours additional cath labs activity each week. However, in relation to the cessation of PPCI services at the hospital, as Minister for Health, I want to be sure that any service changes which we implement, will result in improved services for patients using that service. Therefore, I have asked my Department to address the implications of this recommendation by undertaking a national review of all PPCI services with the aim to ensure that as many patients as possible have access, on a 24/7 basis, to safe and sustainable emergency interventions following a heart attack. In the meantime, patients in the South East will continue to have access to out of hours PPCI services at Cork University Hospital (CUH) or St James's Hospital, Dublin.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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833. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons to be treated and the length of time a mobile cath lab will be in place at UHW; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13307/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In recent months, the South/South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) has made very significant progress to address waiting list for cardiology procedures at University Hospital Waterford (UHW). Waiting list data, compiled and published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), provides evidence that the cardiology inpatient/daycase procedure waiting list at the hospital has reduced by over 28% since the end of November, and the number of persons waiting longer than a year has reduced by some 87%. At the end of February 2017, a total of 433 patients remained on the list.

The focus on the UHW cardiology waiting list continues. The SSWHG has a robust plan in place to address the remaining backlog which involves access to cath lab capacity across the region. In addition, as recommended in the Herity Report, an additional €.5m funding has been provided to UHW in 2017, which will enable the hospital to provide 2 additional cath lab sessions (8 hours) per week.

The Deputy may also be aware that I have written to the HSE Director General requesting that consideration be given to a targeted Cardiology Waiting List initiative. Such an initiative would, I envisage, incorporate a range of measures including the sharing of facilities and resources within and between Hospital Groups, the use of any appropriate facilities in the private hospital sector, as well as the deployment of a mobile cath lab. In that context, I expect that the HSE will examine the need to provide a mobile cath lab for a specific period in UHW, having regard to the current waiting list. I look forward to receiving the HSE's proposals in this regard.