Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This evening, Sinn Féin will table a motion calling on the Government to address the deterioration of ambulance services. This is nowhere more evident than in my own county of Mayo. The National Ambulance Service has warned that unless the Government acts, it will have insufficient resources to respond to the projected demand and the response times will continue to increase. We need to look at the coverage of the ambulance fleet, the ambulance stations themselves and the rapid deployment points to ensure that equitable distribution of services happens across the region. The challenges to our ambulance services relate to the wider healthcare system.

Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar was not compliant on ambulance turnaround times. Some 90% of the ambulances that attended the emergency department did not meet the turnaround time of less than 30 minutes. Let us imagine waiting for an ambulance and driving more than 50 miles in that ambulance on the worst roads in the country, only to have to wait in the ambulance to access emergency treatment. This is caused by the lack of capacity and bad patient flow. The same HIQA report stated the lack of beds in community and district hospitals is the main reason causing the backlog. Will the Taoiseach engage with the Minister for Health to address what HIQA has described as a significant reduction in step-down beds in district and community hospitals in places such as Belmullet, Ballina and Swinford to take the pressure off hospitals such as Mayo University Hospital?

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