Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his welcome and good wishes. They are much appreciated. I also thank him for raising this issue, which gives me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the reform of the National Ambulance Service, NAS. The NAS has undergone a significant process of reform in recent years and a number of important developments have taken place. The National Emergency Operations Centre has been established. This centre receives the emergency calls and dispatches the emergency resources. The NAS now 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 NAS has developed the intermediate care service to provide lower acuity hospital transfers, which frees up emergency ambulances for the more urgent calls. I should also mention that a permanent emergency aeromedical support service has been established to provide a more timely response to persons in rural areas.

This ambulance reform programme is taking place against the backdrop of the HIQA review of ambulance services, which was published in late 2014 and the NAS capacity review which was published last year. The HIQA 2014 review of pre-hospital emergency care services recommended that the NAS review management structures to ensure managers at all levels are supported to deliver their goals.HIQA advised that job descriptions should be reviewed against business requirements and current management capabilities ought to be assessed against revised job descriptions. It was also recommended that training be provided to managers in a number of core areas.

In response to the authority's review, the HSE commissioned the consultancy firm, Mazars, to carry out a review of the organisational design of NAS in 2015. Mazars was requested to develop plans regarding human resources. organisational structure and workforce. While I understand that this review has been completed, it has not yet been published. The question of publication, and the timing of same, is an operational matter for the HSE. In March 2017, HIQA published its review of progress made to implement the recommendations of the 2014 review of pre-hospital emergency care services. The review commended the progress made in terms of the management structure in the NAS. A key change was the appointment in 2015 of a dedicated HSE national director of ambulance services and emergency planning. The creation of this role has helped to facilitate the required reform at an appropriate level within the HSE. Additionally, the appointment of a NAS quality and patient safety manager has resulted in an improved focus on risk management, incident reporting and the management of compliments and complaints.

The Senator also raised other matters regarding the ambulance service. I am pleased to inform him that the NAS has taken a proactive approach to service development, including the recruitment and training of additional staff, a revised fleet replacement policy, the development of alternative care pathways and the implementation of new technology such as the electronic patient care record. A total of €7.2 million in additional funding was provided in 2016 for the NAS, which included €2 million in development funding. This year, an additional €3.6 million has been made available, including €1 million for new developments. Development funding will be used to increase the number of paramedics and intermediate care operatives in line with the capacity review recommendations.