Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On 18 May, I tabled this matter as a Topical Issue. It concerns the delay in ensuring that ambulance cover in west Roscommon and east Mayo is addressed. The HSE has simply not delivered on ensuring that this ambulance blackspot is sorted out. The OPW agreed a five-year lease with the national ambulance service to use the former Garda station in Loughglynn as a regional ambulance base.

Some 18 months ago, Roscommon County Council gave planning permission to develop an ambulance base there. However, it seems there has been very little progress on the project since then. It is most disappointing because the HSE timeline for the operational start of the base was last summer. In correspondence with the then Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, I highlighted the situation regarding the ambulance service in Roscommon. In that correspondence, I made clear the importance of ensuring that a sufficient level of ambulance cover is provided across the county.

The ambulance base in Loughglynn is a vital facility for communities in west Roscommon and east Mayo. It will significantly help to improve emergency response times in areas that heretofore have been ambulance blackspots. The need to address the ambulance base in Loughglynn, and the issues concerning the county's ambulance service, must be an absolute priority for all stakeholders.

So much work has been done in Roscommon Hospital. An investment programme of €20 million went into the county. We have an air ambulance in the area which has saved lives and has been in operation for the last two years.

I realise that the Minister can do some things, but not others. I have heard from the ambulance service, however, that this is a HR situation. These are situations that have been dealt with under the Haddington Road agreement. People may blame politicians for what happens, but I am asking the ambulance service to address the situation immediately because lives will be lost if this matter, which was agreed in the Haddington Road agreement, is not brought to a head. It should be done sooner rather than later.

I am sick and tired of politicians making a political football out of this and playing with people's lives. I am asking the people out there to do what they said they would do under the Haddington Road agreement. I am asking the ambulance service and the Minister to intervene to ensure that whoever signed up to the Haddington Road agreement should now do what was agreed therein, otherwise lives will be at stake.

This was never meant to be an ambulance base, as such. It was meant to be a facility where ambulance drivers from Roscommon, Boyle or wherever would go to address an ambulance blackspot. This has been agreed in backrooms during talks in which I had no say, and the Minister probably had no say in either. It was agreed under the Haddington Road agreement where all the stakeholders were represented. I am asking people out there to live up to their obligations. They should not use this as a political football or put the blame back on politicians. They have a responsibility for the lives of people in west Roscommon and east Mayo.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the NAS expects the Loughglynn ambulance station to be operational following the resolution of these issues. It was stated on local radio by other politicians that this ambulance base would never open. Why are people making those statements? I know the elephant in the room from talking to the national ambulance service and it is the fact that people who work for the service signed up under the Haddington Road agreement but are still refusing to go out and man this station. As a national politician it is my right to come into this House and state when something is wrong. I have kept silent for far too long and my worry is that lives will be put at risk if this ambulance base is not opened soon. I appreciate the fact the Minister and other people are doing everything possible but I am asking the people who signed the Haddington Road agreement to step up to the plate and deliver what they agreed. If lives are lost this politician will not be taking responsibility - the responsibility will be back on those ambulance personnel who signed up to an agreement which they are obliged to carry out. This has gone on for far too long and has been a political football for far too long.

I am absolutely convinced that when this ambulance base opens in Loughglynn in west Roscommon, which was an ambulance blackspot, patients will have a quicker ambulance response time once again and will get the care they deserve. I pay tribute again to the ambulance service personnel and the work they are doing on the ground, including the paramedics, the advanced paramedics and the air service. They have saved dozens of lives in my county since Roscommon accident and emergency services were downgraded and I am delighted that has happened.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know the Deputy has enormous interest in this topic. We have discussed it in the House and he has raised it with me personally on a number of occasions. I can hear his passion for the issue from his speech today. From a political point of view I am very keen to have the station opened as soon as possible and the delay that has occurred to date is unacceptable. It is, unfortunately, a common feature of our health service that we often see staff interests on the television or on the radio advocating on behalf of patients only to appear in rooms and offices a day or two later delaying the opening of new wards and other facilities, including a whole mental hospital in Cork, on the basis of staffing issues and industrial relations issues that should have been solved long before these facilities were completed. This is a recurring theme and for decades now I have seen new facilities which need to be opened in the interests of patients but cannot be because of those staffing or industrial relations issues. It is disappointing to see patients used as pawns by any side, whether management or unions, in such situations. However, we do have mechanisms, including the LRC and the Labour Court, through which an intervention can occur if needs be so I encourage people to be bound by whatever recommendations come out of these bodies.