Implementation plan and comprehensive strategy now needed for heart health and cardiac services – David Cullinane TD
8 April 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has welcomed the publication of the long awaited review of adult specialist cardiac services as a first step towards better cardiac care and improvements to heart health.
The Waterford TD said that the next step must be to develop not only an implementation plan for the review’s recommendations, but to implement a full and comprehensive heart health strategy that spans prevention and care in the community, as well as hospital care and rehabilitation.
Teachta Cullinane said:
“The publication of review of adult specialist cardiac services is well overdue, but welcome. This is an important first step towards better cardiac care services across the State, and improvements to heart health.
“The next step must be to not only implement the recommendations of the report, but to implement a full and comprehensive heart health strategy that spans prevention and care in the community, as well as hospital care and rehabilitation.
“There are important measures which can be taken – such as Sinn Féin’s proposal for a pharmacy-based risk-targeted hearth health check programme – to improve awareness of heart health, and to support people to take preventative action before needing hospital care.
“I welcome in particular the recommendation for 24/7 emergency cardiac care in Waterford to service the South East, which has been needed for many years. The lack of 24/7 services has put lives at risk and led to tragic deaths. This has been a major priority for me since I joined with campaigners to push for this investment over the past two decades.
“The recommendations to retain 24/7 services in Limerick and to develop four comprehensive cardiac centres are also very important.
“These are still only policy announcements, and they must now be matched with the appropriate resources. The HSE and the relevant hospitals need to be given a timeframe and resources for implementation so that they can start hiring the necessary staff.
“The lack of references to all island healthcare in the review is disappointing. This is crucial for people living along the border who may benefit from cross-border collaboration to improve services. The importance of Altnagelvin hospital to the people of Donegal is referenced, but the review should have gone much further to ensure that Ireland works as a single unit in terms of health planning to maximise the potential of the all-island population.
“I will be asking the HSE and the Minister for Health to ensure there is thorough and ongoing engagement with the Minister of Health in the North and the Health and Social Care Trusts to address this.”
