Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over the past eight years, the number of people who died before an ambulance reached their location increased by an alarming 70%. Last year alone, 1,108 people died before an ambulance arrived on the scene. In one high-priority case, it took three hours and 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to a critically ill patient. I have raised the issues surrounding our ambulance service on numerous occasions during the lifetime of this Government. I have consistently highlighted the fact that the ambulance service is in a serious state of disarray. The centralised call-out system has failed. The service was much more effective and efficient when managed in regional hubs. There is now a national system which is poorly managed and co-ordinated. Many personnel in the system have lost confidence in the functionality of the system. It is not cost effective. There is massive wastage of funds due to poor logistical direction. The constant sustained pressure pushes crews to the limit of their endurance. They go to work not knowing what county or province they will end up in or what time they might get home. This has a demoralising effect on ambulance crews and their families. Frustration at the inability or unwillingness to correct repeated system failures has turned to disillusionment and anger among front-line workers. Many find it impossible to cope and are seeking to exit the service.

I have made numerous calls for a complete review of the service. In fact, a review happened, focusing on management structures, yet those findings were kept under wraps. Details of the report were subsequently obtained under freedom of information by Journal.ie. The findings confirm beyond doubt that every issue I and others in this House have raised was factual and verifiable, so much so that the report was deemed scathing in its criticism. It revealed that the ambulance structure is underdeveloped and under-resourced. Six areas were considered high risk or extreme risk. There was a keen focus on ambulance service staff, an area I have highlighted on a number of occasions in relation to paramedics. I relayed accounts of serious understaffing due to long-term sick leave, exhaustion and a lack of personnel to fill rosters. There were reports of exhausted paramedics travelling the highways and byways with their 12-hour shifts stretching to 15 hours or more, during which time they had no food breaks or downtime. Findings showed that up to 57% of shifts ran over designated finish times. The publication of this revealing report cannot be ignored, shelved or put on the long finger.

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