Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin will continue to focus on providing on-going high-quality critical care for children with cardiac illness but in a vastly-improved environment. Today (Thursday, 5 February 2015), the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD along with one of the cardiac patients at the hospital turned the sod for the new Hybrid Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory which is being built at the hospital.   The project will be funded in totality by taxpayers through the Health Service Executive at a cost of €5.6million. Phase one of the building project has commenced and patients will receive treatments in the unit in early 2016.  OLCHC is the national centre for the provision of cardiac surgery for children.

Speaking at the hospital today Minister Leo Varadkar said:

 “This new Catheterisation Laboratory will be a really welcome development for treating children with Congenital Heart Disease.  Crumlin is already recognised internationally for its paediatric care and its service helps many children to enjoy a full childhood.  All of the staff deserve our admiration.  The new state-of-the-art laboratory will allow the high calibre, expert staff to work at the highest level of international practice. I am especially pleased that it will treat children from across Ireland, North and South.”

Dr Paul Oslizlok, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist said:

“The present Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory at OLCHC is at the end of its shelf life. The new Hybrid Catheterisation Laboratory will provide the technology for treating patients that matches the best available internationally.  The Paediatric Hybrid Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory allows us to perform cardiac catheterisations to help diagnose heart problems in children, as well as repair heart problems that once required open-heart surgery. This new unit will allow cardiologists to perform catheter-based procedures and if necessary, surgeons to perform open-heart surgery. The combination of these two functions is especially important in a critical care situation, when every minute counts. Without the need to transfer a patient from a catheterisation lab to an operating room, surgeons are able to react immediately resulting in significantly improved patient outcomes. Used for both preventative and interventional care, the Hybrid Catheterisation Lab gives physicians full-access to equipment needed for any cardiac condition, including leading-edge imaging equipment and computers for fluoroscopy, digital movies, and 3-D angiography, allowing for the best quality care for our patients.”

Speaking at the hospital today, Chairman of the Hospital, Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin said:

“On behalf of the staff of Our Lady’s I wish to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Government and the HSE for their continued investment in OLCHC and for recognising the urgent need to improve cardiac facilities and support of the new development.  This new development will very significantly benefit critically ill children. The new laboratory will meet an urgent, immediate clinical need, minimise risks of infection, and provide more timely access to critical interventions and represents value for money.”

ENDS