Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Health the numbers of ambulances being held up for significant lengths of time that is greater than half an hour at each of the Dublin hospitals (details supplied) because the ambulances are waiting for their trolleys to be returned; the figures for the first three months of 2012; and the length of time each ambulance has been delayed [56510/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The period that an emergency ambulance spends at an emergency department varies for a number of reasons. These include the presenting patient's condition and the complexity of the clinical handover. The HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS), as part of an ongoing work programme to address delays in releasing ambulances from EDs, has introduced named officers to liaise with relevant hospital staff and management.

The HSE Emergency Medical Programme has also developed a set of performance indicators to measure ED performance, including an indicator for the maximum time an ambulance should be held at an ED. Measurement of this performance indicator will be implemented over the coming months.

I refer the Deputy to my previous answer of 6th June 2012 to his question (Reference Number 26172/12) and the information remains the same.