Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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82. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to address poor ambulance response times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2363/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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There has been much discussion about ambulance response times recently. I would like to clarify that response time performance is improving in the face of increasing demands on the service. The latest published data shows that nationally, in October 2014, the volume of ECHO calls rose by 5% compared to the same period in 2013, and DELTA calls by 10%. Despite this, an ambulance arrived within the target time for 76% of ECHO calls and for 67% of DELTA calls - an improvement of 3.3% and 4% respectively on the same period in 2013.

It is worth noting that response time targets only measure one aspect of ambulance performance and they should be part of a suite of assessments. Internationally, many services are moving to patient outcomes as a better indicator of performance. The National Ambulance Service introduced a patient outcome target for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in 2014, and more are being developed.

I can assure the Deputy that the National Ambulance Service, will in 2015, continue to focus on service improvements. A significant programme of reform and modernisation is ongoing, and, this year we will see a number of further developments. A key component of the reform programme is the single national control system. This will be completed later this year and will, along with the single Computer Aided Dispatch system, further improve call taking and dispatching. The Intermediate Care Service, which received additional vehicles and staff in 2014, will continue to free up emergency vehicles for emergency calls and we are focussed on improving hospital turnaround times.

A €5.4m budget increase in 2015 will help address service gaps, particularly in the west, by reforming rostering and staffing additional stations. We will also expand the number of community first response teams, particularly in more rural and sparsely populated areas. In addition, the Emergency Aeromedical Support Service, which has been very successful, will continue to provide rapid access to appropriate treatment for very high acuity patients where this might be difficult to achieve by road.

The Deputy will be aware that there are currently three major reviews of ambulance services, the recently published HIQA review, as well as the awaited national capacity and Dublin ambulance service reviews. These three reviews, when taken together, will provide us with very good information which will help drive further service improvement. I have therefore asked the HSE to prepare an action plan on completion of the three reviews, with timelines to realise a new vision for our ambulance services.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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83. To ask the Minister for Health his plans for the replacement of the existing system of measuring ambulance response times in view of the findings of the recent report on this issue commissioned by the Health Service Executive, particularly in relation to rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2378/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In its recent report, HIQA acknowledged our geographic challenges and recommended different rural and urban response time targets. I also understand that the draft executive summary of the National Capacity Review, recently circulated to the Joint Committee on Health and Children, suggests that the response time targets recommended by HIQA cannot be met, even with substantially increased resources. However, as that report is not yet finalised, I believe it is premature to make any concrete decisions in relation to response time targets.

It is worth noting that response time targets only measure one aspect of ambulance performance and they should be part of a suite of assessments. Internationally, many services are moving to patient outcomes as a better indicator of performance. The NAS introduced a patient outcome target for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in 2014, and more are being developed.

In relation to rural response time targets, I think it is accepted that these are difficult to achieve for any ambulance service. However, I can assure the Deputy that we are already adapting our ambulance services for the needs of rural populations through, for example, the use of rapid response vehicles. In addition, the Emergency Aeromedical Support Service which has proven to be very successful, will continue to provide rapid access to appropriate treatment for very high acuity patients where this might be difficult to achieve by road. A €5.4m budget increase in 2015 will help address service gaps, particularly in the west, by reforming rostering and staffing additional stations. We will also expand the number of community first response teams, particularly in more rural and sparsely populated areas. The Intermediate Care Service, for non-emergency clinical transport, will continue to free up frontline ambulances, and their highly skilled paramedics and advanced paramedics, for emergency calls.

In addition to the recent HIQA review, the national capacity review and the review of Dublin ambulance services are awaited. These three major reviews of our ambulance service, when taken together, will provide us with very good information which will help drive service improvement. I have therefore asked the HSE to prepare an action plan on completion of the three reports, with timelines to realise a new vision for our ambulance services.