Mary Butler
Ceist:824. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health when the HSE plans to implement the Herity report in full; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13296/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 21 March 2017
Ceisteanna (824, 825, 826)
Mary Butler
Ceist:825. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health his views on the fact that persons living in the south east cannot avail of cardiology services at the weekend and after 5 p.m. in the evening until 9 a.m. in the morning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13297/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMary Butler
Ceist:826. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health his views on the fact that it is impossible to get from University Hospital Waterford to Cork University Hospital by car or ambulance within the 90 minute timeframe for successful intervention for cardiac arrests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13298/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 824 to 826, inclusive, together.
The Deputy will be aware that in his review of cath lab services in UHW, Dr Niall Herity recommended that the UHW cath lab should operate as an elective lab which provides all specialised cardiac services except interventional treatment for patients who are having heart attacks (PPCI). Dr. Herity also recommended that the current 9 to 5 provision of these services should cease in order to allow the hospital to focus on the much larger volume of planned cath lab work. Investment was recommended to enable the hospital to provide additional cath lab capacity.
I accept Dr Herity's findings and recommendations and have provided additional funding of €0.5m for the UHW in 2017 which will enable the hospital to provide 8 hours additional cath labs activity each week. However, in relation to the cessation of PPCI services at the hospital, as Minister for Health, I want to be sure that any service changes which we implement, will result in improved services for patients using that service. Therefore, I have asked my Department to address the implications of this recommendation by undertaking a national review of all PPCI services with the aim to ensure that as many patients as possible have access, on a 24/7 basis, to safe and sustainable emergency interventions following a heart attack. In the meantime, patients in the South East will continue to have access to out of hours PPCI services at Cork University Hospital (CUH) or St James's Hospital, Dublin.
In his report, Dr Herity examined data provided by the National Ambulance Service and determined that the average emergency ambulance journey time from UHW to CUH was one hour and twenty eight minutes. Dr Herity examined actual, real time information, from 36 separate ambulance transfers undertaken between October 2015 and June 2016 and concluded that the 'blue light' journey time from UHW to CUH is less than 90 minutes.