Phoenix: Sense at last?

No, this column is not about the awful war in Iran and given the monstrous idiocy unleashed upon the planet by the current US administration, it’s hard not to think or write about it. But this is a local column in a local paper so….After a decade of effort, UHW finally has a go-live date (July 2026) for 24/7 PPCI, emergency heart attack interventional cardiology. 

An election promise from Fianna Fáil, which many in the health system wished had never been made, such was the systemic opposition to it, is finally fulfilled. 

During the campaign, it became evident from the data uncovered that Waterford was being lied to by the system. Official figures were grossly incorrect. The appalling farrago of the national computer being “unable” to talk to or interpret the UHW computer, thus presenting incomplete local data, to satisfy those in the Cork-based SSWHG, the HSE and the Dept. of Health, was like something from a dystopian novel. 

The detective work on the issue by Darren Skelton, one time reporter here, should not be forgotten. Micheál Martin and Mary Butler tied themselves to the service with a photo outside UHW, which promised delivery. 

In fairness, a second cath lab was built and 24/7 will happen. The Taoiseach and Minister Butler must be congratulated on that. It’s a big win for UHW. 

On that score, will Kilkenny’s St Luke’s General Hospital be mandated to send its cardiology patients to UHW? They have apparently resisted involvement with UHW cardiology services since the service began in 2008. Hopefully better sense will now prevail.

As ever with state investment in Waterford, we worry about unspoken caveats. I heard last week that UHW, one of eight national cancer services, is not permitted by “the system” to erect a sign saying precisely that. What systemic support for UHW does that imply? 

Tremendous work across the gamut of cancer services for the South East is done at UHW without the staff complement or resources deployed elsewhere. This is the implicit fault in a grossly unfair system lacking apolitical delivery. 

It is widely suggested that recruitment for the 24/7 cardiology service has been done at cost to other very important services in UHW. 

Consultants approved by the HSE’s own CAAC system are interviewed and ready to take up advertised posts, because the patient demand is there, yet the HSE will not authorise their appointment for “budgetary” reasons. 

Fairness does not apply. What is Minister Butler doing about that? You can bet your house that the same situation does not apply in CUH or any of the other Model 4 hospitals in the land. The system favours those with political power.

We know from our reporter Alex Cunningham and various parliamentary questions, the exact staff complement used in UHL to provide 24/7 cardiology, but locally, Minister Butler is “not permitted” to say how many will be provided in UHW. This rightly makes people nervous. 

Beaumont Hospital in Dublin tried to operate a 24/7 service some years ago but it was apparently abandoned as the rota was too onerous to maintain. We can be sure, as God made little ,apples that the UHW service will be HSE and clinically compliant, as it must be to operate, but that the staff numbers as used in CUH will not be available. The numbers around that will become clearer on the day. 

As an aside, it should be mentioned that the HSE website, which up to April 2025 published a monthly staff analysis for every hospital in the country, has ceased to do so. Only gross figures for each health area are now available, which makes it impossible to ascertain comparative hospital staffing levels. Is bureaucracy being used, for political reasons, to obscure the actual staffing figures?

During the last government, there were regular meetings between all local Oireachtas members and UHW management at which items of interest were discussed. Useful press coverage ensued. Matt Shanahan was to the fore in organizing these discussions. 

Since he lost his seat, all such activity has apparently ceased. Minister Butler is silence personified. When on local radio, there is little update. 

Minister Cummins, who had trenchant opinions on everything, has little to say. Hospital management has reverted to HSE omerta despite genuine concerns about the shelving of the Vertical Overhead OPD, the fate of a promised 96-bed ward unit, construction of a new Adult Mental Health Unit and the building of a multi-storey car park. 

It may be that cards must be played very close to one’s chest in this divided region. 

Fair enough, people understand that, but there is currently not a single, ready-to-go project at UHW (or SETU). This doesn’t suggest that pressure is being applied. The government, plus Ms Butler and Cummins, are receiving a free pass, not to mention the abysmal performance on new FDI jobs. 

These are matters of great public concern in a city with a rapidly growing population and a major regional hospital dealing with massive service demands. The political silence locally is deafening. Is being treated like a second class city acceptable? 

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein does its own thing. Mr Cullinane was on RTÉ radio last Wednesday, rightly airing legitimate concerns about the appalling delay in finishing the new National Children’s Hospital. He was articulate, exercised and passionate in a way I have never heard him about anything in Waterford. Are there Sinn Féin riding instructions from HQ about comment on local matters lest Sinn Féin loses regional support elsewhere? Some 20,000 Waterford voters would probably like to know.

Anyway, last week, the Taoiseach opened the magnificent new Glassworks One building. It’s a credit to the Frisby family and to Waterford. The private sector stepped up to the mark. 

During the opening ceremony speeches, SETU president Prof Veronica Campbell spoke of new buildings coming on stream, with funding allocated and planning permission to be sought shortly. It cannot be repeated often enough that Waterford is playing catch-up after a 20-year investment famine in its third-level offering. 

During that politically driven “hiatus” six new buildings were built in Carlow IT, allegedly out of their own magic cash in hand. Believe that and you’ll believe anything.