Editorial: 24/7 cardiac care - a momentous day for Waterford after far too long

Ten years on from the groundswell of support and protest for health equality in Waterford and the South East, namely that 24/7 emergency cardiac care would be available at University Hospital Waterford (UHW), we have finally reached that momentous day.

It shouldn’t have taken this long. It shouldn’t have seen ridiculous hurdles, such as the Herity Report, put in UHW’s way. It shouldn’t have required consistent people power to keep it on the political agenda.

It should have been provided over a decade ago. Families have endured the worst grief and trauma due to its absence.

Some common sense finally came in the form of Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill of Fine Gael, following the most recent general election. Early on in her ministry, she declared that she supported the provision of 24/7 cardiac care at UHW, and, while slow, the pace of progress towards the service gathered more of a forward momentum.

Previously, we had seen politicians elected on the promise - Minister of State at the Department of Health, Mary Butler, TD, famously posed at the hospital with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in front of a big banner committing Fianna Fáil to delivering 24/7.

Under Minister MacNeill’s watch, we had the publication in April 2025 of the National Review of Adult Specialist Cardiac Services in Ireland.

This review, chaired by Professor Philip Nolan, and supported by an expert and patient representative steering group, undertook an evidence-based, comprehensive national review of scheduled and unscheduled hospital-based services for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease in adults.

The purpose of the review was to examine how to optimise access to quality cardiac services and care, with a focus on improving cardiovascular mortality through cardiovascular disease prevention.

In line with the evidence-based approach of the review, the Minister for Health said she would ask the HSE to expand the provision of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute heart attacks at UHW to a 24/7 service, in order to meet the needs of the regional population of this area.

Fast forward just over a year - despite much palaver made of difficulties around staffing provision - we are finally here.

Thanks goes, in no small part, to the diligent work of all those who marched and campaigned, keeping the matter in the public eye.

A campaign stand at John Roberts Square was a regular sight, as advocates made sure that Waterford people were continuously informed that we were still without this vital service. Emergency cardiac care is, by its nature, something most of us only have to consider when we actually need it.

This week, we reflect on those for whom this expansion of service comes too late - those who didn’t survive the gauntlet of a haphazard journey to access medical care in Cork city. We think of their families and loved ones.

Waterford has a long history of being forced to campaign for services that should be a given. 24/7 cardiac care is a milestone moment. But it is not one for politicians to jubilantly pat each other on the back - after such a long wait, they should turn their attention now to all the other areas Waterford remains under-resourced; the list is long, and well-documented in the column inches of the Waterford News & Star. We’ll keep banging the drum.