Dáil debates
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Adjournment Debate
Ambulance Services
7:00 pm
John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this subject on the Adjournment tonight.
The ambulance call centre in Mayo was originally located at the Sacred Heart Home in Castlebar. It was then moved to the Camp West site beside the fire station and then to St. Mary's hospital, on a HSE site. All of these moves and upgrades cost millions of euro to provide the vital emergencies services for counties Mayo, Galway and Roscommon. The number of jobs has recently increased from 12 to 16 because of the additional demand. Hundreds of thousands of euro have been spent on training the staff. People were brought over from the United States to give the training courses, so enormous amounts have been invested.
This is the kernel of my argument. Although the staff has not been told anything yet directly by the HSE, there are indications on foot of an internal leaked document to the effect that the service being provided in Castlebar is to be transferred to Ballyshannon, which is a smaller centre with fewer people working in it. In other words, the number of control centres is to be reduced to two, which some might argue is saving money. However, I want a specific answer about what logic such a decision is being based on if this document is correct. I am loth to say this, but it appears that the proposed transfer to Ballyshannon is to come about because Donegal happens to have a Minister in the Cabinet and Mayo does not. Surely it is not being done to save money, considering all that has been spent.
Is this another death knell for services in Castlebar and County Mayo, with proposals already on the table to close Mayo General Hospital as a procurement centre for hospital supplies even though it made â¬2.9 million in savings last year and won numerous awards for providing the best and most efficient service in the country? In summary, I have two simple questions for the Minister of State. Are these rumours correct, and, more importantly, if they are, on what basis was the decision made?
My understanding is that more than 100,000 emergency calls come through the Castlebar centre at the moment, which is more than three times what the centre in Ballyshannon has to deal with, where fewer people are employed. Will it save money and why is this now being proposed after the expenditure on training and upgrading? Why is this proposal being reactivated? This was supposed to happen last January and it was postponed, suspended or whatever. I need to be convinced, given that this involves people who have families and have to pay mortgages, that this is not a political decision, and I want specific answers in that regard. Such decisions should be a thing of the past. Where stand the Government Mayo representatives on this, the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, and Deputy Beverley Flynn?
This is a really important issue and I have made note of some of the answers given so far this evening and in other Adjournment debates. I am asking for upfront decisions and if I and the people concerned are not persuaded that this initiative will genuinely save money, I will have to say that it stinks.
Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am responding to this Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children.
Ambulance control is an essential element of the structures needed to ensure that emergency ambulance services operate in the most effective and efficient manner. Internationally, for patient safety reasons, there has been a consistent move to greater centralisation of control functions. This enables more efficient use of ambulance fleet and personnel through the introduction of new technology, operated by staff dedicated to control and despatch duties, which in turn allows response times to be improved and the most appropriate service response to each call to be determined and despatched.
Prior to the establishment of the HSE, each health board had its own ambulance service, with a range of different regional control arrangements In most cases these made limited use of technology and managed only those ambulance resources belonging to the health board concerned. The establishment within the HSE of a national ambulance service has enabled a major programme of reform and improvement to be commenced. This aims to maximise operational efficiency and provide a more responsive and appropriate emergency ambulance service.
The HSE, with the support of the Department of Health and Children and the Health Information and Quality Authority, has determined that the needs of the health service can best be met by the establishment of two ambulance control centres for the country. While the needs of the service could be met by a single centre, it is considered more appropriate to have a second centre in order to ensure that a backup capability will always be available.
One of these centres will be located in the east of the country, with the second in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. The project to establish a single control centre model has significantly advanced with the recent closure of Naas control centre and transfer of its functions to Dublin. A phased process of further change is planned during 2011 and this includes the control functions currently located in Castlebar being relocated to Ballyshannon in the first quarter of the new year. The HSE is engaged with staff representative bodies in relation to the planned changes.
The Minister is satisfied that these changes will enable the most appropriate ambulance resources to be despatched as expeditiously and efficiently as possible in the interests of provided a safe and high-quality service to the public.