Seanad debates
Thursday, 20 October 2016
Commencement Matters
Ambulance Service Provision
10:30 am
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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Ambulance paramedic staff are a vital asset to Carlow and the south east, providing assistance and support to the community, especially at times of illness and tragedy. Carlow ambulance service comprises 18 staff - four women and 14 men. They are based in a prefab with no hot water, a leaking roof and in a sewage problem. The store for their medication is located in a different building and it is not ideal having to go to a different building on winter evenings, which puts them in a vulnerable position. Last week, a health and safety audit carried out on the prefab and it was condemned and deemed unfit for purpose. As of next Monday, 24 October, the 18 staff will pick up their keys and kit and will work out of Kilkenny on their 12-hour shift, which means there will be no ambulance service in Carlow. This is uncalled for and the 18 staff will have to travel from Carlow to the depot in Kilkenny and back. If accidents happen and an ambulance is needed, no service will be available in Carlow.
The building is not fit for purpose. Despite 18 trained paramedics raising concerns and issues over a number of years about health and safety in the prefab, they have to move to Kilkenny because the HSE has not listened to them. I have a major issue with that. These staff have been complaining for years. Who is accountable? Is it the HSE or the Minister? The most recent audit also highlights that issues were raised regarding staff numbers because the service is under staffed. There is ongoing health and safety training yet the staff are expected to work from a condemned building. As a matter of urgency, the staff need to be relocated in Carlow in a suitable alternative building. It is unacceptable that funding should be an issue, as taxpayers are paying for this service. It is not being delivered, leaving the people of Carlow and the surrounding area in a vulnerable position.
I have met the staff and there is no need for this. These trained and qualified professionals have to leave this prefab in Carlow because it is not fit for purpose.
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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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.
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. It is unacceptable in 2016 that 18 staff members are working in a facility with a leaking roof, no access to hot water and a sewage problem. Taxpayers are not being provided with the service for which they are paying, which is unfair on the employees and people living in Carlow. I ask the Minister of State and the Minister to visit the facility which is too small for 18 staff working 12-hour shifts. Will the Minister of State provide a timeframe for completion of the works? Staff can no longer work in the current conditions and will move to another depot in Kilkenny. Relocation to a new or another building in the Carlow area should be considered. The medication required by staff is not located in the prefabricated building, which means that during winter months they must go to a different area to obtain medication, leaving them unsafe and vulnerable. I want another audit to be carried out. I accept that the Minister of State may have first been notified of the issue this morning, but it is an urgent matter which I will raise every week until I get answers. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with it.
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Senator that no one should have to work in an unsafe environment. As I stated, the Health Service Executive will prioritise the allocation of a building for the service. I will also raise the matter with the Minister when I meet him later and outline the Senator's concerns about staff having to use a building that is in such poor condition. I will urge the Minister to give the HSE a timescale for rectifying the problem. That is the only commitment I can give.