James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“acknowledges ambulance service personnel for the high quality of care they provide;

recognises that:

— in the 12 months of 2013, ambulance services responded to over 281,000 emergency calls, an increase of almost 14,000 calls on 2012;

— since 2011, the National Ambulance Service has implemented response time standards on a phased basis, in tandem with planned service improvements;

— in order to drive improvements in response times, a new target has been set in the national service plan for 2014, for 80% of life-threatening calls to be responded to within 19 minutes, when last year’s target was between 68% and 70%;

— response time indicators are not clinical indicators and do not measure patient outcomes, accordingly the National Ambulance Service, in line with other jurisdictions, is developing clinical outcome indicators for pre-hospital emergency responses;

— ambulances are now strategically deployed - they are not located at a single station during a shift but where they are most likely to be required;

— the National Ambulance Service is currently developing a national emergency department turnaround framework to ensure consistent and rapid intervention to any delay in ambulance turnaround times;

— ambulance turnaround times at hospitals are monitored on a continuous basis via the command and control centres and an escalation policy is operated in the event of any issues arising; and

— dedicated emergency aeromedical support is provided to rural areas, particularly in the west, where land transit times may not be clinically appropriate;

notes the:

— significant reform programme which is currently underway to reconfigure the way the Health Service Executive, HSE, manages and delivers pre-hospital care services, to ensure a clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by improved technology;

— single national control system, due for completion in 2015, will improve our control and dispatch performance thereby improving response times;

— ongoing reform of rostering practices whereby the practice of ‘on call’ rostering is being replaced with ‘on duty’ rostering which leads to faster deployment as the crew is in position to respond immediately to calls; and

— development of the intermediate care service, which transports patients between facilities thus freeing up emergency vehicles to focus on emergency calls;

further notes that:

— three separate reviews are currently under way, the aim of which is to improve our ambulance services;

— a national capacity review is currently under way to determine the level and use of resourcing required for a safe and effective service now and into the future;

— the Health Information and Quality Authority is currently reviewing the governance arrangements of pre-hospital emergency care services to ensure the timely assessment, diagnosis, initial management and transport of an acutely ill patient to an appropriate health care facility;

— a joint review of the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service has been commissioned by Dublin City Council and the HSE, to determine the best model for emergency care provision in Dublin; and

— despite the pressure on the health care budget generally, this Government has prioritised ambulance services and additional funding of €3.6 million and 43 staff have been provided in the national service plan 2014; and

commends the Government on its commitment to the further improvement of pre-hospital emergency care services.”

I wish to share time with Deputies Jerry Buttimer and Joe McHugh.

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