Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, who cannot be present. The National Ambulance Service, NAS, has confirmed that following a health and safety audit, an issue was identified in respect of the shower and changing facilities used by staff at Carlow ambulance station.Works are planned to rectify the issue which is being treated as a priority by the NAS. I am advised that the station remains fully operational.

The NAS has undergone a significant process of modernisation in recent years, during which a number of significant service innovations and developments have taken place. They include the establishment of the national emergency operations centre; the delivery of improved technology to improve response times; the development of an intermediate care service to provide lower acuity hospital transfers, thereby freeing more emergency ambulances for more urgent calls; and the establishment of a permanent emergency aeromedical support service to provide rapid access to appropriate treatment for high acuity patients in remote rural areas where access by land ambulances may be difficult.

We are also examining alternatives to the current care model which requires every patient to be brought to an emergency department. They include providing clinical advice over the telephone for callers and referring them to other care pathways, as appropriate, and transporting patients to a wider range of care destinations such as a local or minor injuries unit or medical assessment units.

The reform programme is taking place against the backdrop of the Health Information and Quality Authority's review of ambulance services which was published in 2014 and the NAS capacity review which was published earlier this year. The capacity review which was undertaken by Lightfoot Solutions, a UK based consultancy firm, examined overall ambulance resource levels and distribution against demand and activity. The review found that the NAS was presented with a major challenge compared to ambulance services elsewhere, as population density in Ireland was significantly different from that in many other countries. Outside the greater Dublin area, the population is widely dispersed, with a relatively large population living in rural areas. This means that response time targets are much more difficult to achieve owing to longer driving distances.

The report endorses the existing policy of dynamic deployment, whereby vehicles are strategically located where they are most likely to be required, rather than statically deployed, which means being located at a particular station. Implementation of the recommendations made in the capacity review will require a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. In that regard, I assure the Deputy that increased funding will be available to the NAS in 2017. The detail of the improvements to be funded will be provided in the HSE's 2017 national service plan. In the coming weeks my officials will work closely with their counterparts in the HSE and the NAS to agree priorities for the 2017 allocation.