Maguire calls on Minister to approve the provision of a Cardiac Catherisation Laboratory at Sligo UH

Councillor Sinead Maguire has today (Saturday 2nd February) called on Minister for Health, Simon Harris to approve and prioritise the installation of a cardiac catheterisation laboratory for Sligo University Hospital without delay. A permanent cath lab would allow cardiac patients to be treated with the highest quality care in Sligo without need to transfer to other hospitals in Galway and Dublin. Approval to establish a cath lab was given the go-ahead more than ten years ago and was subsequently withdrawn during the economic down-turn.

Cllr. Maguire said, “The cost to the State of transferring approximately 550 inpatients in Sligo University Hospital to Dublin or Galway for cardiology procedures has been a staggering €14.1 million over 16 years. This, together with the €3.6million cost of renting the visiting lab over that period makes no sense for the tax-payer or the patient. As long as Sligo UH does not have a Cath Lab, cardiac provision for the people of the north-west will be sub-optimal and money will be wasted.”

“How much of this €17.7million could have been saved by the provision of a local Cath lab in Sligo? There is a further negative knock-on effect of not having a permanent Cath lab at Sligo UH. Consultant Physician/Cardiologist at Sligo UH, Dr. Donal Murray, has explained that without such a lab at the hospital, high quality candidates are not attracted to the vacant post of Consultant Cardiologist. This also puts a stress on service provision when the necessary personnel cannot be recruited and posts remain unfilled.

A series of reports over the years, has seen repeated recommendations to establish such a lab including a report of Board of the Saolta Group to the HSE in 2017. There has been a long history in the effort to establish a Catherisation Laboratory at Sligo UH, and Consultant Physician/Cardiologist Dr Donal Murray has been involved with since 2001. In 2013 a report recommended the establishment of a laboratory in Sligo to complement the primary PCI (Percautaneous Coronary Intervention) service in Derry. This has since been established for Derry, while Sligo still waits.

“I am asking the Minister for Health to take a personal interest in ensuring that the National Review of the Specialist Cardiac Services underway re-examines the case for Sligo as a priority. The clinical need is there, evidenced by the provision of part-time service and the numbers of patients being transferred to other hospitals for treatment. Waterford University Hospital was successful in getting approval based on clinical need in September 2018.”

ENDS