Phoenix: Apolitical delivery?
UHW’s two cardiac cath labs, since recently moving to 24/7 operation, are now doing more scheduled stenting procedures than Cork Cardiac Centre with its five Cath labs.
It has been said countless times that apolitical delivery of government projects in Ireland does not exist. Everything revolves around having the political wherewithal to push a project forward and, indeed, the political reward, in possible support gained, for whatever political party does the pushing.
Every sizable project goes to cabinet, as infrastructural investment/development is carved out among powerful ministers. It has been like this since the foundation of the state.
Maybe it’s naïve to believe that government, in a time of plenty, could come up with a list of projects in any field and then proceed to execute those projects in order of need?
The delivery of healthcare in Ireland, via the HSE, is the great gladiatorial competition for funds. Government allocates funding to the HSE via the annual budget, which is nearly upon us for the 2027 iteration and then proceeds with the make believe that the allocation of capital infrastructure is decided by the HSE.
Knowing the importance and status value of acute and community medical facilities, every large project decision is moved by the Minister for Health at cabinet. Any attempt to close or remove medical facilities from anywhere provokes an enormous surge of outrage.
Remember the bleak days, post 2011, when the then Fine Gael government Minister for Health James Reilly and his miserable aides de camp from this region made an extraordinary attempt to upend and diminish the status of UHW or WRH as it then was. The attack reached its climax on the subject of cardiology services at UHW for the south east.
Matt Shanahan, who was at the heart of the 24/7 cardiology campaign, in and out of the Dáil, has now published a social media retrospective analysis of what happened. It’s a shocking expose, which calls into question the honesty, integrity and morality of the politicians and civil servants involved. Shanahan writes, “UHW’s two cardiac cath labs, since recently moving to 24/7 operation, are now doing more scheduled stenting procedures than Cork Cardiac Centre with its five Cath labs. In addition UHW is now between 2nd and 4th busiest emergency intervention centres in the country based on national weekly activity.”
I wonder, sometimes, if we in Waterford have committed some unacknowledged grievous sin whose import precludes government from investing here? Everything is a dogfight, perhaps more so, as with 24/7, when the case is obvious. Shanahan again: “The Dept. of Health’s 2016 Herity Report stated UHW’s regional catchment did not warrant a 2nd interventional Cath lab, that a 2nd lab, only capable of diagnostic procedure, was sufficient. They proposed immediate cessation of all emergency cath lab heart attack intervention at UHW, with all heart attack patients to be referred to cardiac centres in Dublin or Cork. As a sop, the minister (Harris) committed to a national cardiac review by July 2017, which did not appear until April 2025! A travel time clinical standard of 90 minutes travel between hospitals was invented, which existed nowhere else worldwide in clinical cardiology.” All water under the bridge now, or is it?
Last week, Micheál Martin opened a new surgical hub at CUH. Operational activity commenced on September 29, with a phased introduction of services. A similar facility has been completed at Maypark Lane in Waterford. It was scheduled to come on stream this autumn, but given budget concerns, it will be interesting to see how that goes.
Once fully operational, this hub is expected to deliver additional annual activity of approximately 8,000 day-case procedures, 5,700 minor operations and over 18,400 outpatient department (OPD) appointments.
National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) waiting list data shows that UHW has 5,933 people awaiting inpatient and 49,911 awaiting outpatient services. These are, respectively, the 5th and 3rd highest hospital figures nationally. CUH has 1,991 people awaiting inpatient and 27,285 awaiting outpatient services. These are, respectively, the 16th and 11th highest hospital numbers nationally. Even so, a massive controversy is being spun from CUH that 1,000 extra staff are urgently needed there.
Health Minister Carroll MacNeill countered, saying that, “CUH has this year added 233 staff members, the highest recruitment figure for any of Ireland’s Model 4 hospitals”. Where is the outcry nationally that UHW, despite its huge regional workload, is Ireland’s lowest resourced in staff and budget, Model 4 hospital?
Waterford TD and government chief whip, Mary Butler seems unable to move the dial on that salutary fact, while promised additional facilities projects have disappeared into the black hole of unfulfilled political promises.
The failure to properly resource UHW underlines an antipathy to Waterford, which reached its nadir in our airport runway saga. Only for a US investor, our airport and the opportunity it offers would be destroyed.
Government dragged the project and its promoters through the mud for years, using every Machiavellian excuse to derail it, despite knowing it offered real hope to Waterford in attracting FDI and other investment. Like 24/7 cardiology at UHW, they simply did not want it.
We have been so obviously denied new FDI/IDA investment and jobs that it’s a national scandal. Local dependence on a few major FDI employers exposes us to the very real threat of an economic shock.
That malign antipathy is repeated across all government spending metrics, with currently not a single government project for Waterford at planning permission or tender stage in health, road, rail, air, port or FDI.
Think of the machinations around 24/7 cardiology as elucidated by Matt Shanahan and ask yourself if the system deals fairly with us. Don’t expect any help from the Taoiseach for Cork or his ABW Tánaiste. Apolitical deliver is not in their game plan, especially not for us!
Meanwhile, Waterford Chamber hosted one-time FG heavyweight minister, Simon Coveney, at a recent event to tell us how well we are doing and how impressed he is with us. Not ever a friend of Waterford in my opinion. Chambers of Commerce do what chambers must do, but bringing one time ministers/politicians here to bore people over drinks before dinner, is even worse than bringing current ministers here with their hands hanging to do the same thing. We’ve surely had enough of it. Actions speak louder than words and Waterford is tired waiting for action and investment from government.
