Protest goes ahead despite mobile cath lab agreement

A protest calling for cardiac services in the South-East is to go ahead today despite confirmation of a mobile cath lab for the region.

Junior minister John Halligan yesterday claimed University Hospital Waterford will get a mobile cath lab to help reduce the backlog of patients in cardiac units.

Mr Halligan, who has been strongly campaigning for a second cath lab at the hospital and has repeatedly threatened to resign from Government over the issue, agreed that the mobile unit “isn’t the absolute answer” but is a step in the right direction.

The South East Patient Advocacy Group welcomed the announcement but said people in the region would be pressing ahead with a planned protest today, insisting the Government proposal is “only a temporary solution to a permanent problem”.

Hilary O’Neill, a member of the group, said: “Our campaign will continue as a mobile cath lab will not deliver a 24/7 cardiac care service.

“This announcement lacks clarity and detail as a further review is promised but no timeline is given and we all know what the last review contained. Timing is everything but our protest will still go ahead.”

Mr Halligan said he hoped the introduction of the mobile lab would prove the need for a second permanent cath lab. “I think that once the HSE see the mobile cath lab in operation they will see they should have had a second permanent lab all along.

“We have 800 patients on the waiting list. It’s a first step and any step forward has to be positive.”

Agreement on the mobile lab was reached following negotiations between the Independent Alliance and Health Minister Simon Harris who travelled last November to Waterford to listen to the concerns of cardiac consultants.

“Consultants in the South-East sought the mobile lab as a counter proposal to the HSE’s plan to outsource patients to Cork,” said Mr Halligan.

Yvonne Cooney, for the advocacy group, said: “We have been down this road before with broken promises and this paltry offer of a mobile cath lab does not address the main issue of no 24/7 cover in the South-East.

She called on the public to attend today’s protest, which begins at 2pm in Ballybricken.