Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have an opportunity to inform the House of current developments in pre-hospital services, both nationally and in the Roscommon area. The National Ambulance Service, NAS, is working to ensure the provision of high-quality and timely emergency pre-hospital care services, using all available resources as effectively and efficiently as possible. As with any pre-hospital service, development and modernisation is an ongoing process, as technology and clinical standards change. A significant reform programme has been under way in recent years. As part of this, additional funding of €5.4 million was provided this year to improve technology and clinical audit and address gaps in service, especially in the west.

It is important to acknowledge that progress is being made. The single national control system, which is now almost fully operational, is improving our control and dispatch performance. We continue to develop the intermediate care service, ICS, which transports patients between facilities, allowing emergency vehicles to focus on emergency calls. The ICS now carries three quarters of the non-emergency workload. We are also moving to more efficient on-duty rostering and developing a national rostering system. Fifty additional paramedics are being allocated in the west this year as part of that process.

Services in the Roscommon area have been enhanced significantly since 2011. Emergency cover in Roscommon town is currently provided by three ambulances during the day and two at night. In addition, a rapid response vehicle, crewed by an advanced paramedic, provides cover on a 24-7 basis. It is important to note that we are changing our model of service delivery from one where services are provided to a local area from a fixed ambulance base located in that area to a model of strategic deployment. The general area of Roscommon can be supported from the north by services from Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon, to the east by crews in Longford and Mullingar, and to the south from Athlone. In addition, services are now coming on stream at Tuam and Mulranny stations which will enhance the coverage across the region of north Galway, west Roscommon and east Mayo. Refurbishment of the former Garda station at Loughglynn, which is intended to provide dispatch services, is now completed and discussions are under way concerning staffing of the facility.

We have also seen the establishment of the emergency aeromedical service, EAS, which is operated from Athlone by the Air Corps and staffed by NAS advanced paramedics. The EAS provides swift transfers of seriously ill or injured patients to appropriate hospitals, and almost 1,000 missions have been completed since June 2012. Roscommon and Mayo are the two counties which have benefited most from the availability of the EAS.

These are all significant achievements, but we intend to drive further improvements to the service. This year, for example, we expect to receive the report of an independent capacity review to determine current and future service needs. Among the areas being examined are staff numbers and skills mix, as well as resource deployment locations. I am confident these reforms and reviews will lead to improvements in our pre-hospital emergency care services to the benefit of the people of Roscommon and the rest of the country. I hope my reply has addressed some of the issues raised in the e-mail to which the Senator referred.