Minister must offer courage and statesmanship to find a way forward for Waterford hospital

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Ireland.

The state of the art in cardiac care is therapies such as stents and pacemakers. These are delivered in a unit called a cath lab. Acute life-threatening heart attacks must be treated with emergency care delivered rapidly, in a matter of minutes, in such a lab.

To deliver this level of care, the unit needs to have staff and equipment commensurate with the needs of the population. Otherwise, we get waiting lists for outpatient care, and in-patients with life-threatening illness waiting longer than is safe or acceptable for treatment.