Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Heart Attack Care in Kilkenny?
Options
Comments
-
Of course a helipad is "common sense" just like having emergency heart attack care within 1.5 hours for a region is "common sense".
That's not the point.
It's the incredibly expensive conversion of car park spaces to a helipad for the same amount of money as a "cath lab" without a murmur of contention or need for independent reports is what I am highlighting.
Helicopters currently land in Bishopstown with an awaiting ambulance which is only a short distance from the CUH, 10 minutes max per google maps. While not ideal, it is not completely unacceptable.
What is completely unacceptable is that heart attack patients, say from South Kilkenny or Wexford, have to get to Waterford to get to Cork to get the emergency life saving care they need - well outside of the 1.5 hours acceptable limit - and the amount of hostility this receives is remarkable in comparison.
I'm highlighting the utter double standard at play here.
Well clearly we do already, located in either Cork or Dublin either via ambulance or air ambulance for the more critical emergencies. We should be improving access to these major trauma centres that we already have, which is all that's going on here.
Plus a helipad is a one-off cost, running a duplicate cath lab would cost millions to set up and run once it's there. Therefore I fail to see the double standard.0 -
Well clearly we do already, located in either Cork or Dublin either via ambulance or air ambulance for the more critical emergencies. We should be improving access to these major trauma centres that we already have, which is all that's going on here.
Plus a helipad is a one-off cost, running a duplicate cath lab would cost millions to set up and run once it's there. Therefore I fail to see the double standard.
Even with a helipad , you will need one in Cork and Waterford and Kilkenny to be built, you probably won't get the patient transferred any quicker. There is also the issue of night flying where most helicopters are not allowed to fly at night in built up areas.0 -
The Waterford News and Star this week had the reaction of regional TDs to the campaign for healthcare equality
Here are some quotes
John Paul Phelan FG (Carlow-Kilkenny) "I believe that 24/7 care for cardiac patients in the south east is essential and it should be fought for tooth and nail".
Bobby Alyward FF (Carlow-Kilkenny) "I'm not happy with the Herity Report... I hear a lot about how important this issue is from constituents, particularly in South Kilkenny"
John McGuinness FF (Carlow-Kilkenny) "Simon Harris needs to ask those who know best i.e. the consultants on the ground/at the coal face"
James Browne FF (Wexford) "At the end of the day we want as many lives to be saved as possible"
Paul Kehoe FG (Wexford) "I would like to the see productivity at the existing hospital maximised and upped and then we could review that in a year and then, prehaps, question the findings of the report."
Brendan Howlin Lab (Wexford) "I favour the best possible cardiac services in the South-East and this must include 24-hour cardiac diagnostic and surgical capabity in UHW. I believe that will require a second cath lab to be provided and that the Minister for Health, Simon Harris should act accordingly".
The call for equal access to emergency healthcare isn't going away - the next protest is already being planned at the South East Patient Advocacy Group (SEPAG) Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/609909642491552/?fref=ts0 -
Just seeing this thread now so I'll stick in my tuppence worth.....the point on page 1 about a cardiac arrest in Glenmore being brought to St. Lukes is totally false. A cardiac arrest is completely different and if the person is lucky enough to regain a pulse you will be going to the nearest hospital, i.e. UHW.
The one about the Coast Guard being the only or most relevant air ambulance.....not entirely true. The Ambulance Service and Air Corp now have a resource during daylight hours called Air Corp 112 (checkout their Facebook page), this is crewed by an Advanced Paramedic unlike the Coast Guard helis who are crewed to Paramedic level. The Coast Guard obviously have night time capability and are cleared to fly over congested areas.
Helipads...as a previous poster said the Coast Guard and Air Corp land in Bishopstown for ambulance transfer to CUH.
In Kilkenny they land in James' Park for a 2 minute ambulance transfer.
In Waterford the Coast Guard heli fly into Waterpark for a 2 minute transfer. 112 can use the helipad at the hospital (smaller aircraft).
The 90 minute target is from "ECG to PCI" (the Cath Lab).....you get a chest pain, you ring 999, Paramedics (or Advanced Paramedics) are called and they do a 12 Lead ECG in your home. They diagnose that you are having a heart attack, or STEMI (ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction). They give you pain meds and meds to try stop the clot, they ring a STEMI hotline and speak to a Cardiologist, they then electronically send your ECG to the Cardiologist for a referral and a decision is made on which PCI you go to. The Paramedics make that decision, because they are in control of the heart attack victims care.
Kilkenny to St. James' is a little over an hour away under lights and sirens, UHW is about 35-40 minutes. I'm not sure of times from UHW to Cork. The PCI in Waterford is only open office hours Monday-Friday which isn't acceptable but in my humble opinion I think that before huge money is invested in it maybe they could try an experimental go at putting the existing lab on 24/7 as a trial to see if the region has the call volume to get the second lab built.....?
I think you can see I know the system pretty well but we are lucky that we aren't really THAT remote.....the west of Ireland has a helicopter flying into Galway at least every day with STEMI victims. I think a trial period might be the way forward and give all the nay sayers some peace of mind. Not sure if that's even an option but that's what I would suggest.0 -
The Herity report recommended that all primary PCI should stop in UHW - given that no one who presents to a southeast hospital will get primary PCI in 90 mins if that happens makes no sense.Schindlers Pissed wrote: »Just seeing this thread now so I'll stick in my tuppence worth.....the point on page 1 about a cardiac arrest in Glenmore being brought to St. Lukes is totally false. A cardiac arrest is completely different and if the person is lucky enough to regain a pulse you will be going to the nearest hospital, i.e. UHW.
The one about the Coast Guard being the only or most relevant air ambulance.....not entirely true. The Ambulance Service and Air Corp now have a resource during daylight hours called Air Corp 112 (checkout their Facebook page), this is crewed by an Advanced Paramedic unlike the Coast Guard helis who are crewed to Paramedic level. The Coast Guard obviously have night time capability and are cleared to fly over congested areas.
Helipads...as a previous poster said the Coast Guard and Air Corp land in Bishopstown for ambulance transfer to CUH.
In Kilkenny they land in James' Park for a 2 minute ambulance transfer.
In Waterford the Coast Guard heli fly into Waterpark for a 2 minute transfer. 112 can use the helipad at the hospital (smaller aircraft).
The 90 minute target is from "ECG to PCI" (the Cath Lab).....you get a chest pain, you ring 999, Paramedics (or Advanced Paramedics) are called and they do a 12 Lead ECG in your home. They diagnose that you are having a heart attack, or STEMI (ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction). They give you pain meds and meds to try stop the clot, they ring a STEMI hotline and speak to a Cardiologist, they then electronically send your ECG to the Cardiologist for a referral and a decision is made on which PCI you go to. The Paramedics make that decision, because they are in control of the heart attack victims care.
Kilkenny to St. James' is a little over an hour away under lights and sirens, UHW is about 35-40 minutes. I'm not sure of times from UHW to Cork. The PCI in Waterford is only open office hours Monday-Friday which isn't acceptable but in my humble opinion I think that before huge money is invested in it maybe they could try an experimental go at putting the existing lab on 24/7 as a trial to see if the region has the call volume to get the second lab built.....?
I think you can see I know the system pretty well but we are lucky that we aren't really THAT remote.....the west of Ireland has a helicopter flying into Galway at least every day with STEMI victims. I think a trial period might be the way forward and give all the nay sayers some peace of mind. Not sure if that's even an option but that's what I would suggest.
The increased mortality that results may be used as a stick to close some of the A&Es in the region.0 -
Advertisement
-
The south east cardiac care campaign featured again in Dr Gueret's Sunday Independent column:
An entertaining and controversial piece - but does it get to the crux of the matter?
"I am in trouble on my next trip to Waterford for daring to suggest that its politicians are not up to the mark, and that the county needs improved fertility services to rise its population. My flippant remarks followed the recent Herity report that advised against a second heart laboratory to keep local arteries open through the night. My letters tray brims with indignation. One city dweller wrote to tell me that I was being unduly harsh. "Mossy boy," he wrote, "were we to go chasing fertility services, as you helpfully suggest, we would, in all likelihood, be told to go **** ourselves."
There is a palpable sense of local injustice since the Independent Alliance were led up the garden path. The real story here lies deep in rivalry between Waterford University Hospital and neighbouring St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. Kilkenny sends many heart patients to St. James's in Dublin rather than Waterford, and this lies at the crux of the issue about whether Waterford rightfully has a regional population of half a million people, or a lot less.
Kilkenny is only a county hospital. Waterford is supposed to be the regional one, but local Fine Gael politics mitigates against it. Within days of the decision against them, Health Minister Simon Harris was down in neighbouring Kilkenny singing the praises of its local hospital. He was in the company of the party's TD for Carlow/Kilkenny, a man born and educated in Waterford.
This row has the potential to be a heartbreaker, and will run and run. Until it's decided how safe it is to keep critically ill patients waiting until morning, or rushing around backroads in the back of ambulances."0 -
St Luke's hospital has a right to do whatever it pleases both in terms of building alliances with Dublin hospitals and what it says best care for its patients...it doesn't exist as some convenient satellite for WUH to use to bunk up its services to levels that population and Independent reports say don't justify. Attacking St Luke's will do nothing for the Waterford cause at all, just push KK further towards Dublin really. It's has huge support in Carlow Kilkenny community any attempt to belittle or talk it down or diminish it (as per that article) won't go down well.0
-
St Luke's hospital has a right to do whatever it pleases both in terms of building alliances with Dublin hospitals and what it says best care for its patients...it doesn't exist as some convenient satellite for WUH to use to bunk up its services to levels that population and Independent reports say don't justify. Attacking St Luke's will do nothing for the Waterford cause at all, just push KK further towards Dublin really. It's has huge support in Carlow Kilkenny community any attempt to belittle or talk it down or diminish it (as per that article) won't go down well.
Yes, as I said it was a controversial article! Though I didn't read that he was belittling St. Lukes hospital, more that it was involved in a political turf-war of some sort?
I don't know how hospital consultants build alliances but relying on alliances outside the region appears to be a particular issue for cardiology- I'd love to know why since a lot seems to turn on this. I don't think this is an issue for oncology for example.
I'd imagine it makes sense for regions to pull together in general for the good of all patients though. What good is a link with Dublin in an emergency if the distance to get to that expertise/equipment is prohibitively far or so far that is reduces the chance of positive outcomes?
For example, there is going to be a new A&E in UH Limerick next year, 3 times the size of the current one, to cater for Ennis and North Tipp as well as Limerick. If Ennis was referring all their A&E patients to Galway instead of Limerick for some reason, surely that would have had an impact on the A&E investment potentially to the disadvantage of everyone in that region?
At the end of the day, I hope that the best interest of patients is coming first and the turf wars second - it's because the article suggests the opposite is happening is what makes it so controversial!0 -
Hospital consultant s should do what's best for the patient in front of them. Be that refering them to Dublin, Ardkeen or anywhere else for that matter.
Doing what's best for "the regional hospital" should not be the first consideration.0 -
I think it's called 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'. Yes they should be doing whats best for their patients and advocating for 24/7 cardiology services on their doorstep (Arkeen as you call it!) falls into that category. So who's really putting the hospital before the patient?
Doing what's best for "the regional local hospital" should not be the first consideration.0 -
Advertisement
-
Dunmoreroader wrote: »I think it's called 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'. Yes they should be doing whats best for their patients and advocating for 24/7 cardiology services on their doorstep (Arkeen as you call it!) falls into that category. So who's really putting the hospital before the patient?
Doing what's best for "the regional local hospital" should not be the first consideration.
Are you a consultant in St. Lukes? How is it if they judge the care and relationship to be superior? I'd doubt the Consultants in St. Lukes are even from Carlow/Kilkenny- their over riding concern is patient safety and care as that's what doctors do. Just because something is on "your doorstep" it doesn't make it better. I'm not aware of any patients dying on the way to St. James or anything of the like because it happens to be further away- if it were an issue don't you think they'd see merit in WRH?0 -
Does anyone know the reasons some are referred to Ardkeen and others to St James?
This attitude that everyones out to get Waterford is getting tiresome and is doing nothing for the cause.0 -
Does anyone know the reasons some are referred to Ardkeen and others to St James?
This attitude that everyones out to get Waterford is getting tiresome and is doing nothing for the cause.
That's the most obvious question and one that I haven't seen an answer to. Whether or not UHW should have an extra cath lab and 24hr care seems to hinge on the catchment area. The report seems to most people downright dodgy in respect of the catchment area assigned to UHW. If we heard why 75% or so of patients from lukes are sent to Dublin the report might be more credible. But I haven't heard any attempt to answer that. I suspect you're using Dublin ahead of waterford because of waiting lists in waterford. I'd travel to Dublin from waterford if I'd get seen sooner. But the solution to that is to give UHW more resources based on how many people so people could be sent to their nearer hospital, not to assume people want a further travel time.
But this is a question that the government or the lukes consultants could answer very easily if they wanted to. But they don't seem to want to.0 -
Does anyone know the reasons some are referred to Ardkeen and others to St James?
This attitude that everyones out to get Waterford is getting tiresome and is doing nothing for the cause.
...likely because they believe it to be in the best interests of their patients and there's linkages between St. James and St. Luke's.0 -
...likely because they believe it to be in the best interests of their patients and there's linkages between St. James and St. Luke's.
Ah come on, because we think it's best is clearly not an answer to the question. Is it because of other services that the Dublin hospital has that may be needed? it's it because patients are requesting it? Is it a hospital policy that they just have to go along with? Is it to do with waiting times? Is it a better service in Dublin? Is it because the waterford one isn't open when they're sending people there?
It's a hugely important question for the people affected (including Kilkenny people) and people deserve an answer. And that catchment area figure deserves scrutiny, but the minister is refusing to defend it, he's just dismissing the criticism.
I don't really understand why the southeast other than waterford doesn't care about this issue because the whole region is affected. But it's one massive victory for the government that they've managed to pass this off as parish pump politics, to the point that even the majority of people affected think it's just an independent trying to get services for his locality. But the sad truth is about 400k people will have to travel further for emergency healthcare where time is apparently a crucial factor.0 -
Ah come on, because we think it's best is clearly not an answer to the question. Is it because of other services that the Dublin hospital has that may be needed? it's it because patients are requesting it? Is it a hospital policy that they just have to go along with? Is it to do with waiting times? Is it a better service in Dublin? Is it because the waterford one isn't open when they're sending people there?
It's a hugely important question for the people affected (including Kilkenny people) and people deserve an answer. And that catchment area figure deserves scrutiny, but the minister is refusing to defend it, he's just dismissing the criticism.
I don't really understand why the southeast other than waterford doesn't care about this issue because the whole region is affected. But it's one massive victory for the government that they've managed to pass this off as parish pump politics, to the point that even the majority of people affected think it's just an independent trying to get services for his locality. But the sad truth is about 400k people will have to travel further for emergency healthcare where is apparently a crucial factor.
LOL...So the Consultants should send them to Waterford against their best instincts and medical opinion just to satisfy another hospital.. I don't think so.... The reality here is Kilkenny to St. James' hospital is only an hour via ambulance(Carlow less which is served by St. Lukes)- it's a world class hospital vs a 40 min or so journey to a hospital not of the same facilities...of course they are going to send to St. James, you're speaking as if St. Luke's owes WUH something. As St. Lukes is part of the Dublin hospital grouping, of course they're going to foster this relationship and this will continue.
As a taxpayer I have to say we just can't afford these kind of facilities everywhere. I abhor the useless protest politics likes of Mr. Halligan and Cullenane which you elect- all they do is a feed of mentality of victimhood and chip on shoulder-ness!
And not sure where the 400k is coming from because practically all of Tipp is nearer to either Limerick or Cork, North Wexford and Carlow nearer to Dublin. Seems perfectly logical to anyone outside of Waterford that you'd exclude this population to avoid duplicating very expensive services.
And hence why it's really only an issue in Waterford and adjacent parts of S Wex/south Kilkenny.0 -
Good to see even more coverage of the South East cardiac care campaign, this time in the Waterford News & Star.
First time I have seen comments from Dr. Michael Conway, consultant cardiologist at St. Luke's Kilkenny and this week there is an interview with him. If only he and consultants from Clonmel and Wexford had been asked for their input into the Herity report. It mightn't have resulted in 74% of Kilkenny and 94% of Carlow being omitted from the population of the South East!
Anyway the article says"Dr. Conway said that he was personally "very keen" to support UHW but that "unfortunately things have arisen and Kilkenny and Waterford are not more in tow as a result of the Higgins Report".
"Overall, the design of the Higgins Report makes things impractical between St. Luke's and UHW. We would love to have more services available locally but it's quite complex. As as result of the hospital groupings, Cork are in the picture with Waterford and we don't have anything to do with Cork. I personally cannot do much. The interaction should be better and I'm sure it will be better in time. I would be able to work in terms of Kilkenny sending patients to Waterford but it's not for me to judge. The answers are not easy."
Every Wednesday University Hospital Waterford's Cath Lab is set aside for referrals from St. Luke's. However, instead of travelling to Waterford to carry out procedures like angiograms and putting in stents, Dr. Conway travels to St. James's, a referral practice that pre-dates UHW's Cath Lab. Consultants cardiologists in Wexford and South Tipperary both take up their weekly option in University Hospital Waterford.
Dr Conway reiterated that he would be interested in keeping services more local and aid he will discuss the possibility of doing more screening in Waterford and using UHW's services to start to do angiograms in the Cath Lab.
It is great to hear from the people actually involved "on the ground" - I think it goes a long way to explaining what is happening and how outcomes for south east heart attack patients can be improved.0 -
you will not get a patient to ST James within an hour of making the decision to transfer. The distance is 55km to Waterford regional and 123km to ST James's hospital. If you are going to bypass Kilkenny as you suggest with the Carlow patients this should apply to all patients in Kilkennys Catchment area who present with symptoms of chest pain.LOL...So the Consultants should send them to Waterford against their best instincts and medical opinion just to satisfy another hospital.. I don't think so.... The reality here is Kilkenny to St. James' hospital is only an hour via ambulance(Carlow less which is served by St. Lukes)- it's a world class hospital vs a 40 min or so journey to a hospital not of the same facilities...of course they are going to send to St. James, you're speaking as if St. Luke's owes WUH something. As St. Lukes is part of the Dublin hospital grouping, of course they're going to foster this relationship and this will continue.
As a taxpayer I have to say we just can't afford these kind of facilities everywhere. I abhor the useless protest politics likes of Mr. Halligan and Cullenane which you elect- all they do is a feed of mentality of victimhood and chip on shoulder-ness!
And not sure where the 400k is coming from because practically all of Tipp is nearer to either Limerick or Cork, North Wexford and Carlow nearer to Dublin. Seems perfectly logical to anyone outside of Waterford that you'd exclude this population to avoid duplicating very expensive services.
And hence why it's really only an issue in Waterford and adjacent parts of S Wex/south Kilkenny.
In reality all patients who arrive with heart attacks into st Lukes will be treated with thrombolysis and transferred the next day, the mortality is 30% greater.0 -
Good to see even more coverage of the South East cardiac care campaign, this time in the Waterford News & Star.
First time I have seen comments from Dr. Michael Conway, consultant cardiologist at St. Luke's Kilkenny and this week there is an interview with him. If only he and consultants from Clonmel and Wexford had been asked for their input into the Herity report. It mightn't have resulted in 74% of Kilkenny and 94% of Carlow being omitted from the population of the South East!
Anyway the article says
It is great to hear from the people actually involved "on the ground" - I think it goes a long way to explaining what is happening and how outcomes for south east heart attack patients can be improved.
That read like "it would be a nice idea to send patients to WRH but I won't be doing it any time soon." He was speaking to a Waterford paper so it looks like paying them a bit of lip service to get them off his back.
"I'm very keen to support WRH...but won't be..."0 -
LOL...So the Consultants should send them to Waterford against their best instincts and medical opinion just to satisfy another hospital.. I don't think so.... The reality here is Kilkenny to St. James' hospital is only an hour via ambulance(Carlow less which is served by St. Lukes)- it's a world class hospital vs a 40 min or so journey to a hospital not of the same facilities...of course they are going to send to St. James, you're speaking as if St. Luke's owes WUH something. As St. Lukes is part of the Dublin hospital grouping, of course they're going to foster this relationship and this will continue.
As a taxpayer I have to say we just can't afford these kind of facilities everywhere. I abhor the useless protest politics likes of Mr. Halligan and Cullenane which you elect- all they do is a feed of mentality of victimhood and chip on shoulder-ness!
And not sure where the 400k is coming from because practically all of Tipp is nearer to either Limerick or Cork, North Wexford and Carlow nearer to Dublin. Seems perfectly logical to anyone outside of Waterford that you'd exclude this population to avoid duplicating very expensive services.
And hence why it's really only an issue in Waterford and adjacent parts of S Wex/south Kilkenny.
The point I was making is that the Lukes didn't explain what was better about James that makes the added journey worthwhile. The post below yours is the first thing I've seen from them that says anything about it. And it's not too clear to be honest - they'd love the services to be more local but it's more complicated than that? What have Cork got to do with it - are they worried that they'll refer people to Waterford and they'll be in turn referred down to Cork due to capacity issues. This sounds to me like it might be his concern.
Both Waterford and Dublin are supposed to be Centres of excellence for this type of care. If that's not the case then he should say it. God knows that's relevant.
And the 400k figure? It's a bit of a guess really based on where the populations are closest to. The vast majority of Waterford and Wexford are would be closer to UHW than Cork or Dublin. The very west of Waterford would be better served by Cork, but there's only a few thousand there. And North Wexford would be closer to Dublin - maybe 20k people? So not far off a quarter of a million would be closer to UHW from those counties. Then I think all of Kilkenny would be closer to Waterford and the majority of Carlow? Out of that 155k probably about 130k closer to Waterford? Then a lot of the bigger towns in Tipp are closer to Waterford than Limerick - Clonmel and Carrick on Suir. You get up to the 400k figure very easily. Don't forget the HSE quote a figure of 506k for UHW in relation to cancer treatment. That figure sounds like an exaggeration to me. But the 280k figure sounds like a political one. I suspect just looking at a map and the populations that somewhere over 400k is a more accurate one.
An honest conversation about this is needed. But I don't think for a second we're going to get one. As I say, they've even convinced the majority of people affected by this that it doesn't concern them.
Another thing I'd love to see is how well the other centres meet the criteria set out to merit these services and how they compare to Waterford. That info has also not been shared.0 -
Advertisement
-
That read like "it would be a nice idea to send patients to WRH but I won't be doing it any time soon." He was speaking to a Waterford paper so it looks like paying them a bit of lip service to get them off his back.
"I'm very keen to support WRH...but won't be..."
We can't rule that out I suppose, but I'm happy to accept his viewpoint at face value - he is one of the people who knows the reality of the situation.
It's important because, since the Herity report, it is being constantly said that 24/7 heart attack care should not be provided for medical reasons.
Now we have all of the cardiologists in the south east saying that they think that these services should be available "locally", these are the medical experts on the ground, most of whom were not asked for their input into the Herity report.
Also, removing the population of Kilkenny and Carlow was the main reason in the Herity report to say that there wasn't enough demand for the service. We now know that there is a dedicated afternoon in the existing Cath lab for Kilkenny and Carlow patients and from Dr. Conway's comments we also know that this is not used for bureaucratic reasons not medical reasons. You paraphrase Dr. Conway saying "I'm very keen to support WRH...but won't be..." but it's not because he thinks it's in the best clinical interests of patients it's clearly because of bureaucratic barriers caused by the Higgins report amongst other things.
Simon Harris says he won't do anything not "clinically recommended" - the clinicians do recommend it - but the bureaucrats don't!
And the Herity report is a report for bureaucrats! Why didn't the report mention the existing facility for Kilkenny & Carlow patients already in place in the UHW Cath Lab? Perhaps because it would highlight bureaucratic failings and waste that result in it not being used by those patients! Talk about a report justifying the status quo!
Let's not forget there are 20 of these Cath labs already in Dublin. The South East is only looking for 2 and to provide an emergency service that works more than 40 hours a week for a region!
How could the Herity report ever "clinically recommend" 24/7 emergency heart attack healthcare if it never bothered to ask most of the clinicians across the south east who recommend it?0 -
Does anyone know the reasons some are referred to Ardkeen and others to St James?
This attitude that everyones out to get Waterford is getting tiresome and is doing nothing for the cause.
Do you mean why more STEMI patients are referred to James' and not UHW? It's because SJH PCI is 24/7 and UHW PCI is only office hours monday to friday.
If I misunderstood I apologise.0 -
Just an update - this number includes people from South Kilkenny also.
Why would people from South Kilkenny be referred to Cork? It makes no sense.
http://www.wlrfm.com/news/local/88075-60-cardiac-patients-from-uhw-being-referred-to-cork.html60 cardiac patients from UHW being referred to Cork
Up to 60 patients who are waiting for non emergency cardiac procedures are to be referred to Cork because University Hospital Waterford does not have the capacity to treat them.
Waterford Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane has slammed the government for its continued refusal to address capacity issues at University Hospital Waterford.
He says "Dozens of cardiology patients are being transferred to Cork because University Hospital Waterford continues to suffer from significant capacity constraints."0 -
South East Heart Attack Care protest this Saturday at 2pm, The Forum The Glen, Waterford.
One recent story was featured by the Mirror - 3 patients, two from Kilkenny and Wexford.Pensioner's heart surgery stopped halfway through when emergency patient arrived at Waterford hospital
Tom O’Dwyer - from Slieverue, Co Kilkenny- had one stent inserted when he was taken out of theatre to allow a critically-ill patient to receive life-saving cardiac treatment.
Mr O’Dwyer said he understood the doctor was working “under very difficult circumstances” and was glad the other patient was treated – or else they may not have survived.
He added: “If I were in the doctor’s position I don’t know how I would have felt having to stop in the middle of working on one patient and deal with an emergency.
“It’s an impossible position to put someone in. Their work shouldn’t be interrupted.
“While I was waiting in that cubicle for them to finish off my procedure there was a man beside me who had been sent there in an ambulance from Wexford and at about 5.30pm they had to send him home without having anything done.
That wexford man did not get the healthcare he needed :mad:
We need 24/7 care like the rest of the country now!0 -
South East Heart Attack Care protest this Saturday at 2pm, The Forum The Glen, Waterford.
One recent story was featured by the Mirror - 3 patients, two from Kilkenny and Wexford.
That wexford man did not get the healthcare he needed :mad:
We need 24/7 care like the rest of the country now!
Yes because we should base all major taxpayer health investments and expenditures on anecdotes from the Irish Mirror.0
Advertisement