Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, who regrets he cannot be here this afternoon.

The National Ambulance Service is committed to providing a quality ambulance service in Kilkenny, and across the country, both during daytime and night-time hours. The National Ambulance Service has advised the Minister for Health that the allocation of night-time ambulance resources is based on activity and demand. It is important to note the National Ambulance Service operates on a national and area basis as opposed to a local basis. While resources are dispatched to calls in the Kilkenny area from the ambulance station in Kilkenny in the first instance, resources are also deployed from stations in surrounding areas. In this regard, ambulance resources from Carlow, Waterford, New Ross and Clonmel can provide cover in Kilkenny as required and respond to incidents as they arise on a nearest to the incident basis.

In recent years, the National Ambulance Service has embarked on a strategic reform programme to reconfigure the management and delivery of pre-hospital emergency care services. The programme aims to deliver a service that is safe, responsive and fit for purpose through the development of a modern, clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by technology and data. The reform programme mirrors many of the strategic changes under way in ambulance services internationally as they strive for high performance and efficiency while coping with increasing demands for services.

The national emergency operations centre has been established where emergency calls are received and emergency resources are dispatched. The National Ambulance Service utilises an advanced medical priority dispatch system which uses international standards in triaging and prioritising emergency calls. This system ensures life-threatening calls receive an immediate and appropriate response, while lower acuity calls may have to wait until an emergency resource becomes available. In addition, the National Ambulance Service has developed the intermediate care service to provide lower acuity hospital transfers, which frees up emergency ambulances for more urgent calls. A permanent emergency aeromedical support service has also been established to provide a more timely response to persons in rural areas.

The ambulance reform programme is taking place against the backdrop of the HIQA review of ambulance services, published in late 2014, and the National Ambulance Service capacity review, published last year. The capacity review examined overall ambulance resource levels and distribution against demand and activity. Implementation of the recommendations of the capacity review will require a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. Additional funding of €7.2 million was provided in 2016 for the National Ambulance Service, including €2 million in development funding. In 2017, an additional sum of €3.6 million was made available which included €1 million to fund new developments. Additional finding will be made available for the continued development of the National Ambulance Service in 2018. This will be set out in the national service plan 2018. The allocation of the additional funding by the HSE to specific service developments around the country must await the finalisation of the national service plan, a process which is under way.

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