Professor Cathal O'Donnell:

The pathway has been very successful and very safe. We have had no adverse incidents. To take the example of Clare, the Deputy's constituency, the pathway is really good for Clare patients who fit the criteria. That is the key point. There are very specific clinical criteria. The safety net is a telephone call between the treating paramedic and the receiving doctor where they discuss the merits or otherwise of the case. For patients, it means they go into a hospital that is closer to home and they go into a bed in a medical assessment unit rather than a trolley in an overcrowded emergency department. A significant proportion are turned around the same day and discharged with a treatment plan in place. It is also good for the wider community. To take west Clare as an example, there are two ambulance stations, in Kilrush and Ennistymon. In November, if you dialled 999 in Kilrush, our crew would have gone out and brought you to Limerick, which is an hour and a half's drive away, and the crew may then have been held up for two or three hours waiting to get you handed over. Under the new regime, if you meet the clinical criteria, you will have half the drive and the ambulance's turnaround time will be quicker. That ambulance resource is then preserved for people in west Clare because it is back at the base.

I will mention a caveat because it is important to manage expectations. When we started this, we knew that the numbers were always going to be modest and we have seen that to be true. We are talking about two patients a day. It may be three on a good day or it may be one. It is not going to solve all of the problems with the hospitals and with the National Ambulance Service but, where it can be applied, it works for everyone, including our staff, as Mr. Morton has said, because they are back at the base more quickly and have a better chance of getting off on time and getting their meal breaks. It has been a win-win all around.