Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health. I join with the Deputies in extending my sympathies to the bereaved family and all those involved. The death of a child in any circumstances is a tragedy for all concerned and, in speaking about this matter, I am conscious of their terrible loss. Nothing we can say can make it any easier for them.

To establish an accurate account of this incident, the HSE has asked the national ambulance service to examine the details of what occurred. The ambulance service, in line with the HSE incident review methodology, has commissioned an incident review into the management of a 999 call received at 2 p.m. on 6 May 2013. The review team will provide a preliminary report as a matter of urgency, to be followed by a full report. The ambulance service has also appointed a liaison officer to the family to ensure they are informed of the progress and outcome of the review.

A significant reform programme of pre-hospital care services has been under way in recent years. This is to ensure a clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by improved technology.

The programme involves a number of measures, including the performance improvement action plan, development of the intermediate care service, the trial emergency aeromedical service, EAS, and the NAS control centre reconfiguration project.

The NAS is not a static service. It deploys its emergency resources in a dynamic manner and on an area and national, rather than a local, basis. In line with the need for increased efficiencies in State services under the Croke Park agreement, the NAS has been moving from on-call to on-duty rostering for ambulance services. The change to on-duty rostering means that highly trained paramedic crews are on site in their stations or their vehicles to respond to dispatches immediately, rather than in the average time of over 20 minutes that it takes to summon on-call staff and activate the vehicle.

In 2011, following a Labour Court ruling, the NAS began the phased move to on-duty rostering in the southern region. All of Cork now operates under on-duty rostering. In addition, county boundaries no longer apply - the nearest ambulance responds, regardless of its origin. The changes also mean that resources can be deployed dynamically, based on need and demand patterns, rather than simply by station location. This allows for more flexibility and responsiveness and will result in better response times for the people of Cork and Kerry and a better service. In the new model of service, on-duty ambulances and response vehicles will move to the optimal location at any time based on predicted needs assessments. The NAS in east Cork has been enhanced under these changes. Previously, for four nights a week, paramedics responded to calls after 8 p.m. from their homes. From 2012, the emergency resources in east Cork are in use, on duty in the stations or in their vehicles, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All of these measures will allow the national ambulance service to provide a better, safer, more comprehensive and more efficient emergency ambulance service to the people of Cork as a whole.

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