Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important matter, and I welcome the opportunity to address the House.

Monaghan ambulance base provides a 24-7 ambulance service. In addition, the National Ambulance Service has been moving to a policy of dynamic deployment, whereby vehicles are strategically located in the areas they are most likely to be required rather than located at a particular station. In this regard, Monaghan can also be served by resources based at Castleblayney, Cavan, Dundalk, Ardee and Virginia.

While response times are helpful for performance measurement, it should be recognised that sole reliance on response times does not provide a comprehensive picture of modern ambulance service performance.

A steering group set up by the HSE has been working to define a new set of key performance indicators for the ambulance service. These will include patient outcome indicators to assess performance.

The National Ambulance Service has undergone a significant process of modernisation in recent years, and a number of important service innovations and developments have taken place. The national emergency operations centre has been established. At the centre, emergency calls are received and emergency resources are dispatched. The National Ambulance Service has visibility of all available paramedic resources and vehicles in real time, ensuring that the closest available resource is dispatched to an emergency. In addition, the National Ambulance Service has developed the intermediate care service to provide lower acuity hospital transfers. This frees up emergency ambulances for the more urgent calls. Furthermore, a permanent emergency aeromedical support service has been established to provide a more timely response time to persons in rural areas.The National Ambulance Service is considering alternatives to the current model of care which requires that every patient be brought to an emergency department.

The options under consideration include hear and treat where clinical advice is provided over the phone to callers who can then, if appropriate, be referred to other care pathways. I am advised that a recruitment process is under way for the necessary staff to facilitate the roll out of a pilot hear and treat model of care. This ambulance reform programme is taking place against the backdrop of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, review of ambulance services, which was published in late 2014, and the National Ambulance Service capacity review published last year. The capacity review examined overall ambulance resource levels and distribution against demand and activity. Implementation of the recommendations of the capacity review will require a multi-annual programme of phased investment in ambulance manpower, vehicles and technology. I am happy to confirm that in that context additional funding has been made available to the National Ambulance Service for 2017 which will provide for the recruitment and training of additional staff, the development of alternative care pathways and the implementation of the electronic patient care record.