Transfers from University Hospital Waterford to Cork failing to arrive within treatment window

People who have a heart attack outside office hours in Waterford have an almost “zero” chance of accessing lifesaving treatment within an acceptable timeframe

Waterford TD Matt Shanahan wants a 24-7 cardiac centre at University Hospital Waterford. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Not one of 134 “blue light” ambulance transfers from University Hospital Waterford to Cork arrived within a 90-minute treatment window, leaving cardiac patients at severe risk of death, it has been claimed.

Data supplied to Waterford Independent TD Matt Shanahan shows that transfer times out of the county, as well as those from Wexford and Kilkenny to Cork and Dublin over the same period of 2019 to 2022, are outside that 90-minute window.