Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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37. To ask the Minister for Health the details of ambulance call-out target times; his plans to extend or to remove same; the actions he will take to ensure that rural communities are guaranteed appropriate and adequate emergency services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2412/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ambulance response time targets for the National Ambulance Service are set out in the HSE National Service Plan. For ECHO and DELTA calls (life threatening conditions), the 2015 response time target is for 80% of calls to get a patient-carrying vehicle on scene within 19 minutes. The latest published data shows that, in October, the volume of ECHO calls rose by 5% compared to the same period in 2013, with DELTA calls up 10%. The response time was met for 76% of ECHO and 67% of DELTA calls. This is an improvement of 3.3% and 4% respectively on 2013.

Response time targets only measure one aspect of ambulance performance and 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.

Achieving response time targets in rural settings is a difficult task for any ambulance service. HIQA has acknowledged, in its own report, our geographic challenges and has recommended different rural and urban response time targets. While that issue is under consideration, we are adapting ambulance services for the needs of rural populations through, for example, the use of rapid response vehicles and the Emergency Aeromedical Support Service (EAS). The EAS has been very successful and has provided rapid access to appropriate treatment for very high acuity patients, where this may be have been difficult to achieve by road.

I can assure the Deputy that we will continue to strive to improve rural response times. A €5.4 million 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, especially in rural and sparsely populated areas. The Intermediate Care Service, for non-emergency clinical transport, continues to free up frontline ambulances, and their highly paramedic staff for emergencies.

The Deputy will be aware that, as well as the recent HIQA report, two other major reports on ambulance services, on national capacity and Dublin services, will be published shortly. All three reports, 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.