Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim ag ardú ceiste ar maidin a bhaineann leis an tseirbhís otharcharr i gConamara thuaidh. I raise the issue of the ambulance service in north Connemara, in particular in the Leenane, Maam, Kylemore, Renvyle and Clifden areas. An ambulance crisis steering group was set up in the area due to the concerns that exist and a number of meetings have been held with elected representatives. The group has given two examples to underline the seriousness of the situation. One case related to a young mother who was waiting for more than two hours for an ambulance while haemorrhaging badly a few days after giving birth. A second case related to a serious cardiac patient who presented himself to the doctor at 2.30 p.m. with chest pains. The doctor called an ambulance and it arrived at 4.50 p.m., and the man eventually arrived at the hospital at 6.45 p.m. The response from the National Ambulance Service at a meeting was that the resources are not available to put a workable solution in place.

We feel that is totally unacceptable. The group believes the National Ambulance Service, NAS, the Department of Health and the Government have a duty of care towards people and patients in rural areas such as north-west Connemara as much as to people living in other rural areas. We all fully understand that living in rural areas creates delays but we take issue with the often two to three-hour delays in waiting for ambulances to arrive to tend to patients. Their major concern is the waiting time between the call for an ambulance to attend and the arrival of the ambulance at the scene. Although the group has made numerous requests under the Freedom of Information Act for ambulance response times in the area, it appears the National Ambulance Service is reluctant to give the information. That is something I might follow up with the Minister.

A follow-up meeting was held with the National Ambulance Service at which various issues were raised and options were explored. It was put to the National Ambulance Service that the current service is totally inadequate with it regularly being the case that people are waiting more than two hours for an ambulance to arrive. That is the norm rather than the exception. In addition, people who are very ill then face a 50-mile or 60-mile journey. We appreciate that air ambulances are available but NAS helicopters cannot fly in darkness and while the Coastguard helicopters are available, they have only limited use. Both types of helicopter need areas in which they can land safely and an ambulance to transfer a patient to the helicopter, which gives rise to issues concerning that particular option. I noted the case of a man who was waiting for a very long time.

The ambulance crisis steering group has put forward a number of suggestions. There is a Red Cross ambulance in the area and it has been suggested that a rapid response unit could be developed with two fully qualified and salaried paramedics being put in place to cover the area, but that would require the support of the Red Cross whose ambulance was purchased through fund-raising activities by the local community. Such an approach would have to work in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service. To date, the National Ambulance Service has not been open to such an option on the basis that the Red Cross ambulance is not up to the same standard as an NAS ambulance. People on the ground however say they would prefer a Red Cross ambulance than no ambulance or an ambulance that would take two hours to get to them. This is a very serious issue.It is a remote area of north Connemara. We appreciate resources are tight, but the length of time people must wait for the ambulance service to get to them is completely unacceptable. They need a better response. We need to hear the Government response to this and how it intends to tackle this issue.