Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Stagg for raising this issue, for drawing attention to the improvements made in the HSE national ambulance service, NAS, and for affording me the opportunity to outline the ongoing delivery by the HSE and its workforce and representatives of important changes in the way our emergency ambulances and crews are deployed.

The Deputy is correct that the NAS is progressing a number of efficiencies arising from the Labour Court decision following a referral to it under the public service agreement. These include the issue of overtime built into rosters and a change from on-call to on-duty service. The elimination of on-call rostering was sought by ambulance staff. The referral to the Labour Court was in line with the Croke Park agreement. The court has issued a binding recommendation directing the NAS and the trade unions to address a number of inefficiencies in rostering arrangements. New rosters are in place and are operating successfully in a large number of stations, including Tallaght, Swords, Maynooth, Kildare, Wicklow and Cavan.

Some concerns over perceived levels of cover or lack of cover at certain stations in the north Leinster area have been raised as these changes have progressed. I reassure the Deputy and the population of the areas referred to in this regard that the national ambulance service is not a static service. It deploys its resources in a dynamic manner and works on an area and national basis rather than on a local basis. The dynamic deployment of ambulance resources ensures that the nearest appropriate resource is mobilised to an incident, including incidents in the greater Dublin area. Where necessary, emergency cover is provided by an advanced paramedic motorcycle response unit, supported by resources deployed from adjacent stations on a rolling basis.

In addition to the operational efficiencies being implemented, two new rapid response vehicles, RRVs, now operate in the south Dublin and Kildare areas, to improve services further across the greater Dublin area. The national ambulance service has also introduced a new intermediate care service in south County Dublin to address routine inter hospital transfers. This releases emergency ambulances for emergency service work. The net effect of these changes is improved efficiency and increased availability of emergency ambulances across the area for incidents where hospitalisation is required.

As mentioned, the national ambulance service is a dynamic service. It responds to calls on a prioritised basis, through the advanced medical priority dispatch system, AMPDS, which is in operation in all NAS control centres. The NAS has established that 10% of all 999 calls are inappropriate for an emergency ambulance and a further 50% are neither life-threatening nor serious. This data is in line with international experience.

With regard to the specific stations mentioned by the Deputy, Maynooth, Baltinglass, Swords, Athy and Arklow, these stations particularly benefit from the dynamic and rolling cover improvements due to their proximity to each other and to the road network available in the area they cover. I appreciate the Deputy referred to Maynooth in particular. The question raised with regard to Maynooth and the manner in which these issues are being addressed must be seen in the context of the dynamic service that exists, which comprehends a broader area of cover than a particular town or centre.

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