Almost 300 new posts are being sought over the next three years to support the roll-out of recommendations from the national cardiac services review, the Medical Independent (MI) has learned.
Speaking at last month’s Irish Cardiac Society Annual Scientific Meeting in Kerry, Prof Joe Galvin, Consultant Cardiologist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, said that 293 cardiology posts – including 46 consultant posts – were required to implement the review’s recommendations.
Prof Galvin outlined workforce plans as part of the implementation strategy for the national review, published in April 2025, to delegates. The review contains 23 recommendations and 34 sub-recommendations.
It recommended: “The formal restructuring and strengthening of the National Heart Programme as the overall governance and implementation structure for the development, enhancement, and oversight of specialist cardiac services.”
There are currently 110 whole-time-equivalent consultant cardiologists in Ireland in acute hospitals and 14.5 working in integrated care hubs, Prof Galvin said.
He explained that a three-year implementation strategy had been approved by the HSE and was now awaiting approval from Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
Prof Galvin said the implementation strategy working group had sought a timeline of five-to-10 years, but was told by the Department of Health to devise a plan for three years.
A spokesperson for the Department declined to comment on when the plan would be approved, but said the Minister is committed to delivering on reforms proposed in the review.
A spokesperson for the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) told MI that “cardiac services are now getting the priority they deserve”.
They expressed optimism that the implementation plan for the review “will come with the serious investment needed to address critical delays in service implementation”. “After a seven-year wait for the review findings, we have to commend Minister Carroll MacNeill for publishing the review promptly following her appointment and setting a tight deadline for the implementation plan,” according to the IHF spokesperson. See news feature.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.