Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Feighan once again for raising this important issue in the House. I am pleased to outline the current developments in relation to the Loughglynn ambulance station.

First, I should explain that the national ambulance service, NAS, is changing and modernising its model of service delivery. It is no longer considered appropriate for an ambulance station to provide services only for its local area. For this reason, the national ambulance service is moving to dynamic deployment, where all resources in a region are deployed across that region as a fleet. Moving to dynamic deployment was a specific recommendation in the HIQA report into ambulance services, which was published last year.

Within the wider western region, the Roscommon area is supported by dynamic deployment from the north by Boyle and Carrick on Shannon, from the east by Longford and Mullingar, and from the south by Athlone. A new 24/7 capacity in Tuam and Mulranny stations is enhancing the coverage across north Galway, west Roscommon and Mayo.

Also in support of dynamic deployment, Loughglynn is being developed as a base where ambulances can be located during shifts. The base will provide facilities for staff and clinical storage. The Deputy will be pleased to know that refurbishment of the ambulance station in Loughglynn is now complete and, indeed, has been for some time. However, discussions are still ongoing with staff representative bodies about a number of staffing issues arising from the move to dynamic deployment in the region. The NAS expects that the Loughglynn station will be operational following a resolution of these issues.

The national ambulance service is working to ensure high quality and timely emergency pre-hospital care, using all available resources as effectively and as efficiently as possible. As for any modern health service, development and modernisation never ceases, as technology and clinical standards change and evolve.

A significant and ongoing reform programme has been underway in recent years. In 2015, an additional €5.4 million has been provided to improve technology and clinical audit, and to address service gaps - in administration services - particularly in the west. The single national control system, which is now almost fully operational, is improving our control and dispatch performance.

The intermediate care service, ICS, transports patients between facilities and allows emergency vehicles and crews to focus on emergency calls only. The ICS now carries over 80% of the non-emergency workload.

We are also moving to more efficient on-duty rostering and developing a national rostering system. Some 50 additional paramedics are being allocated in the west this year under this process. Services in Roscommon have improved since 2011. Roscommon town has three emergency ambulances during the day and two at night, as well as a 24/7 rapid response vehicle, crewed by an advanced paramedic who can get there ahead of the ambulance and begin treatment on the scene.

For Roscommon and the surrounding region, we also have the emergency aeromedical support service, EAS, based in Athlone. The Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, and I have confirmed that this service will now be extended. The EAS takes very seriously ill or injured patients swiftly to the most appropriate hospital for their needs. Over 1,000 missions have been completed since its inception in June 2012. Counties Roscommon and Mayo have among the highest demand for EAS services.

These are all significant achievements, but we intend to improve the service further. The NAS expects to receive the independent capacity review very shortly, and this will help to determine current and future service needs. Areas being examined include staff numbers and skill mix, as well as resources and deployment locations.

I am confident that these reforms will contribute to the ongoing improvements in our pre-hospital emergency care services, to the benefit of the people of Roscommon and the rest of the country.

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