Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, regarding the provision of NAS motorcycle services in Cork.

I am sure Senators will join me in paying tribute to the incredible work the NAS has done and continues to do in delivering testing and vaccination services and helping to protect us all since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This work is done in addition to its primary emergency response functions and the dedication of NAS staff to maintaining normal operations wherever possible has been immense. I think specifically of the early phase of the vaccine roll out when the NAS travelled the byroads of the whole country, administering the vaccine to those who were housebound.

During periods of normal operation, the NAS has a motorcycle response unit in Cork staffed by two paramedics. I understand that in order to allow the NAS to maintain essential Covid-19 testing and vaccination work it has been necessary to redeploy both paramedics back to their emergency ambulance response roles, in support of the overall emergency response. While the motorcycle response unit is not in scheduled operation, the NAS has advised that provision is being made for additional newly qualified staff to be allocated to the NAS south region. On that basis the NAS anticipates that the motorcycle response unit service should be able to recommence in the short to medium term.

As well as this specific initiative, I would like to use this opportunity to emphasise to the House the very significant process of reform and modernisation that the NAS has undergone in recent years and continues to undergo. Several important service innovations aimed at improving emergency ambulance response times and resource availability have already taken place. This includes the development of alternative pathways of care such as "see and treat" and "hear and treat" whereby medical staff based in the National Emergency Operations Centre can advise callers on accessing treatment at home, self-care, or referral to other appropriate medical services. These pathways of care help to divert lower acuity patients away from busy emergency departments and enhance emergency capacity. In addition, the NAS has developed the intermediate care service to provide lower acuity hospital transfers which frees up emergency ambulances for more urgent calls. Current data indicates that more than 80% of all inter-hospital transfer requests are now being handled by this service. These are just a few examples of initiatives that are helping to improve the availability of emergency ambulance resources.

This year an unprecedented €187 million has been invested in the NAS, of which €10 million is funding for new developments. This includes the recruitment of some 125 additional staff, which is providing for both increased front-line emergency capacity and enhanced community healthcare initiatives. As part of budget 2022, €200 million is being invested in the NAS. This includes a further €8.3 million in new development funding which will help to provide for further capacity resilience in the service as well as in the expansion of alternative care pathways. This additional investment means that NAS annual funding will have increased by about €30 million since 2019 which is a measure of this Government's commitment to overseeing the successful strategic development of the NAS into a highly agile, mobile medical service in line with the overall aim of Sláintecare, which is to provide the right patient care at the right time in the right place. In that context, Senator Buttimer’s point about having a highly agile and mobile medical service is relevant. I welcome the fact that the NAS anticipates that the motorcycle response unit service should be able to recommence in the short to medium term. We are all aware of the rapid response these paramedics are able to provide while on motorbikes. As the Senator said, they can get down very narrow streets and get around blockages, enabling them to respond very quickly.