Up to 2,000 protestors took to the streets of an extremely wet Waterford city on Saturday afternoon to march for improved cardiac services in the South East.
Chanting ‘What do want? 24/7; When do we want it? Now’, the group wound its way down the city’s quays before finishing up with speeches outside the Bishop’s Palace Museum.
The protest was organised by the South East Patient Advocacy Group following what it says is the Government’s failure to honour a commitment to Independent Waterford TD and Minister of State John Halligan to provide 24/7 cardiac care at University Hospital Waterford (UHW).
Among the hundreds who turned out despite the bad weather were local TDs Sinn Fein’s David Cullinane, Fianna Fail’s Mary Butler , Mr Halligan, and representatives from the hospital.
Ms Halligan came close to resigning his position over the issue and has been scathing of a Government commissioned report by independent cardiac consultant Dr Niall Herity, which did not find in favour of a second cardiac cath lab at UHW .
However Mr Halligan insisted, that the second cath lab would have to be delivered: “The fact remains the whole of Waterford are outraged ...the review has been found to be faulty, not by me but by the eminent consultants in the South East,” he said.
Among the many consultants attending the march were Dr Rob Landers clinical director for the South/South West Hospital Group. He accused Minister for Health Simon Harris of intransigency over his refusal to meet with consultants at the hospital. “The Minister has to give us the courtesy of meeting us...he needs to listen to the other side, he’s basing his position on a fundamentally flawed, inaccurate and incomplete report. I think the Government and Minister need to reflect very carefully on this.. there’s been a series of broken promises by three successive Fine Gael ministers for health at this stage,” he said. .
Consultant Cardiologist Dr Patrick Owens said clinicians had come from Wexford and South Tipperary to highlight that this was an issue for all the people of the South East.
He said he was disappointed that the issue had been portrayed as parish pump politics: “I agree with the Minister that these are issues which should be decided based on clinical judgement...our argument is that judgements based on a single flawed report that does not do justice to the reality on the ground in all three hospitals in the South East”.
Marchers came from around the South East region. Dean Ronayne travelled from Lismore, in West Waterford, his step-father died recently from a heart attack. Dean echoed many of the marchers when he said: “enough’s enough”.
March organiser Hilary O’Neill said further protests may be held if cardiac services are not improved.
A commitment to improve services at the hospital was contained in the Programme for Government but was subject to the outcome of an independent clinical review.
That review by Belfast Cardiologist Dr Niall Herity, published this month, did not find in favour of a second catheterisation laboratory at UHW.
Waterford is the only centre nationally with just a single cath lab for treating heart attack patients. Critics of the review say its terms of reference were flawed.