Large crowd at Waterford Hospital protest vigil call for 24 hour cath scan cover

A large crowd have gathered outside University Hospital Waterford this evening following the death of local man Tom Power last weekend while being transferred to a hospital in Cork.

Protestors are holding a vigil calling for a 24/7 Cath Lab for the region as a matter of urgency.

Crowds pictured at a vigil protest calling for improved cardiac services at University Hospital Waterford. Picture: Patrick Browne

They’re calling for 24 hour cardiac care at the local regional hospital and say election promises have not been delivered.

The organisers, the Still Waiting Health Campaign, claim the community is being ignored.

Tom Power was buried on Wednesday in Ballygunner on the edge of Waterford city three days after a death which shocked the nation when it emerged that he was transferred from hospital in Waterford because its catheterisation lab was closed for the weekend.

Mr Power, who got married just last year to his beloved Bernadette, died about 35 minutes into the ambulance journey from Waterford to Cork and his death came amid ongoing controversy about the lack of round-the-clock cath lab services for heart attack patients in the south-east.

Bernadette Power told hundreds of mourners at his funeral Mass that Tom was her “best friend, soulmate” and the couple were “like two peas in a pod, always a good team”.