A Donegal County Councillor has called for an urgent review into the adequacy of the National Ambulance Service.
The service is at crisis point, Cllr Gerry McMonagle told the council this week, and staff are suffering with low morale with widespread burn out.
Cllr McMonagle said the current model is not fit for purpose, and ambulances from Donegal have been known to travel as far as Mayo and Westmeath.
“Regularly our ambulances are hooked up at A&E Department for LUH for hours on end, leaving the county depleted of a proper service, where ambulances are having to attend calls as far away as Ballina and further again. In some instances, ambulances from Donegal have been known to travel as far as Mullingar help and assist there, such is the bad service it is, and the system they are using is not fit for purpose,” Cllr McMonagle said.
“Our ambulance crews are working extremely long hours because of this the service in Donegal is arguably minimal and with crews often being tied up at the hospital, if an ambulance comes from Finn Valley is stuck at Letterkenny University Hospital for a number of hours there’s none to cover in the Finn Valley area. Other ambulances in other areas would have to be on standby for that and it just depletes the services all around the county. Unfortunately we’ve seen instances of that and how severe that can be.”
Cllr McMonagle is calling on the Minister for Health to urgently review the adequacy of National Ambulance Service resources, to identify additional budgetary needs to phase out use of private services, reduce reliance on overtime, fill vacancies, and expand staffing and the ambulance fleet to meet need.
The HSE spendt €10.1 million on private ambulances in 2019, with Letterkenny University Hospital using the highest portion at €1.6 million.
“I can’t help but feel that if that €10million was invested in the National Ambulance Service personnel and vehicles here in this county, we would have a better service,” Cllr McMonagle said.
Cllr McMonagle said the current model, which is based on a more urban-focused Scottish model, does not suit rural Ireland.
“Ambulances are too often travelling in excess of 150 kilometres to reach a destination, with instances in excess of 400 kilometres, and there are extreme geographical disparities in ambulance coverage.”
Cllr McMonagle’s motion called on the Minister and National Ambulance Service to embark on a complete overview of its operation and service and put in place a service that is adequate and fit for purpose to meet the growing and changing needs of our citizens.
The council is set to write to the Minister on the matter, following the passing of the motion at Monday’s council meeting.
Tags:
