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POLITICIANS in Waterford have expressed anger that Cork hospitals with low numbers of Covid-19 patients received the Covid vaccine earlier than Waterford University Hospital (UHW), which currently has 23 positive hospitalized patients and is reportedly under “significant pressure.”
Independent TD Matt Shanahan has blamed the South South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) for what he calls a “continuing Cork bias.”
“Once again, the SSWHG leadership has demonstrated its utter inability and dysfunction to overcome its Cork-centric management ethic,” said Shanahan.
“A vaccine implementation plan that prioritized Cork hospitals to include facilities that are only elective with minimal exposure to Covid or active inpatients, while ignoring the significant Covid case load and staff risks that exist in other regional acute care hospitals in Waterford, Kerry, and Tipperary is one more sign of failure to recognize or equitable governance of SSWHG. “
Shanahan said there was no parity of esteem among SSWHG hospitals, adding that the group’s leadership had a “Cork-first” attitude.
Only one seat out of nine on the SSWHG board is available to UHW despite being the only other category four hospital in the group, and the second-largest by number of beds, he noted.
On January 1, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital Cork administered their first vaccinations to healthcare staff, while there were five positive cases in total between the two hospitals. On the same day, Cork University Hospital vaccinated 600 of its healthcare workers.
Fianna Fail TD Mary Butler announced on Twitter that the vaccine would be launched in Waterford “in the week beginning January 4.”
His party colleague and Waterford City and County Councilor Eddie Mulligan said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that the vaccine launch had not yet started at UHW.
“During the Christmas period, despite cabinet decisions in mid-December, it was an abominable failure that the HSE was not ready to immediately release the vaccine upon receipt, keeping it for three days,” Mulligan said.
“This urgent apathy has now hit the citizens of Waterford with Cork hospitals running before UHW. I have hundreds of UHW employees living in my ward and they are on the front line, protecting our sick but treated like second-class care personnel by the SSW Hospital Group.
“Next week is not good enough, the staff and our patients deserve to be given the vaccine with equal priority at the same time as our counterparts in Cork. In the last 24 hours, 73 were admitted to hospital due to Covid and the staff treating UHW inmates deserve fair treatment by the HSE & SSW Hospital Group in launching vaccines. ”
In a statement, SSWHG said the vaccine could arrive at Waterford University Hospital “on Wednesday, January 6.”
Co Waterford had 112 new Covid-19 cases in the latest daily case announcement.
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