Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Haughey for raising this matter. Dublin Fire Brigade provides emergency ambulance services in Dublin city and county by arrangement between Dublin City Council and the HSE. The HSE National Ambulance Service provides some emergency capacity in the greater Dublin area, as well as non-emergency patient transport.

In recent years, three comprehensive reviews of our ambulance services have been undertaken: the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, review, the independent Lightfoot review of National Ambulance Service capacity and the review of Dublin ambulance services, which was jointly commissioned by the HSE and Dublin City Council. The capacity review, published last year, examined overall ambulance resource levels and distribution against demand and activity. The review identified deficits in ambulance capacity, including in the Dublin area, which will require very significant investment to address. Implementation of the recommendations of the capacity review will require a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. To this end, increased funding has been made available for ambulance services in the HSE national service plan 2017.

The HIQA report on ambulance services, which was published in December 2014, highlighted significant public safety issues arising from two ambulance services operating in the same domain. The report identified concerns around the existence of two separate control and dispatch processes, and also highlighted the need for greater clinical governance of both services. The HIQA report points very clearly to the need for enhanced integration of service provision in the greater Dublin area. In that context, the HSE is working closely with Dublin City Council, which is leading on this issue on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities to devise and agree the elements of a safe, sustainable, integrated and quality ambulance service for the citizens of Dublin.

The Minister for Health fully accepts that, in the interest of patient safety, we need the Dublin Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Service to have a more co-ordinated and integrated approach to service delivery. To that end, discussions are taking place between officials of the Department of Health and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The Departments have requested a joint action plan from the HSE and Dublin City Council on service and governance issues.

The Dublin ambulance services review, which was commissioned in 2014, is focused on identifying a service model for the optimal provision of emergency ambulance services and patient care in the Dublin region, including service quality, patient safety and value for money. The review’s primary objectives are to determine the optimal model of ambulance provision, which ensures patients receive the highest standard of emergency response, and to determine the most cost-effective model of provision in future which ensures optimal value for money for the public purse.

I assure the Deputy that when the Minister for Health receives the review, a formal proposal for any changes to the services will be required to be submitted to both the Minister for Health and the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government for consideration and approval. I convey the apologies of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, as he cannot be here this afternoon.

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