Written answers

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Department of Health

Ambulance Service Provision

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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975. To ask the Minister for Health the running costs of the Ambulance Service in the north east in each of the past five years; the changes that have been made to the opening hours of each of the ambulance centres in the north east in each of the past five years; the level of ambulance staff on duty during the day, during the night and on the weekends for each of the past five years and if he will include any changes to staff levels; the arrival time targets for the ambulance service for each of the past five years; if there are different arrival time targets at different times of the day, the week or between rural and urban, and if he will identify same; the changes in the average journey length and duration of an ambulance carrying a patient to a hospital in each of the past five years; if the transformation programme had an effect on this; the changes to cover provided for staff on sick leave, annual leave and other forms of leave within the service in the past five years. [27009/13]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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A significant reform programme has been underway in recent years in pre-hospital care services across the country, including the North East, for the development of a clinically driven, nationally co-ordinated system, supported by improved technology. The programme involves a number of measures, including the Performance Improvement Action Plan, development of the intermediate care service (ICS), the trial emergency aeromedical service (EAS), and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) Control Centre Reconfiguration Project.

The NAS is taking steps to address challenges nationally, such as reliance on on-call rostering, geography, resourcing and the use of emergency ambulances for routine transport. The move from on-call to on-duty rostering for ambulance services is a key part of improving the service as highly trained paramedic crews are on site in their stations or vehicles to respond immediately to dispatches. The NAS is also developing a non-emergency transport fleet, the national intermediate care service (ICS), for routine clinical transfers of patients, freeing emergency ambulances for emergency responses.

In relation to the query raised by the Deputy in relation to ambulance services specifically in the North East, as these are operational issues for the HSE I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy.

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