Lowry tells Dáil the ‘ambulance service is in need of resuscitation’

Deputy Michael Lowry highlighted issues with the ambulance service when speaking in the Dail recently.

“I have raised the issues surrounding our ambulance service on numerous occasions throughout the lifetime of this Government”, the Tipperary Independent TD said.

“ I have consistently highlighted the fact that the ambulance service in Ireland is in a serious state of disarray. I have made numerous calls for a complete review of the service. The centralised call-out system has failed. 

“The service was much more effective and efficient when it was managed in regional hubs.  We now have a national system that is poorly managed and co-ordinated.  Many personnel have lost confidence in the functionality of the system.  It certainly is not cost-effective. 

“There is massive wastage of funds due to poor logistical direction,” Deputy Lowry told the Dáil during Leaders Questions with Tanaiste Michéal Martin.

“The constant sustained pressure is pushing crews to the limit of their endurance. Going out to work in the knowledge that they don’t know what county or indeed province they will end up in or when they might get home is having a demoralising effect on ambulance crew and their families. 

“Frustration at the inability or unwillingness to correct repeated system failures has turned to disillusionment and anger amongst front-line workers. Many are finding it impossible to cope and are seeking to exit the service.  

“I have made numerous calls for a complete review of the service. A review did, in fact, happen. It focused on management structures. Yet its findings were kept under wraps. Details of the subsequent report have been obtained under Freedom of Information by ‘The Journal’.  

“They confirm beyond doubt that every issue that I and others have raised in relation to our National Ambulance Service was factual and verifiable. So much so that the report was deemed to be ‘scathing' in its criticism,” said Deputy Lowry.  

“It revealed that the ambulance structure is both underdeveloped and under-resourced. Six areas were considered to be either high risk or extreme risk.  There was a keen focus on ambulance service staff, an area that I highlighted on a number of occasions in relation to paramedics. 

“I have relayed accounts of serious understaffing due to long-term sick leave, exhaustion and lack of personnel to fill rosters. Reports of exhausted paramedics travelling the highways and byways of Ireland with their 12-hour shifts are stretching to 15 hours and more. They had no food breaks and no downtime. Findings showed that up to 57% of shifts run over their designated finish times. 

“I agree that the shift towards First Responders and Paramedics has been a good one. They are very capable and professional people. The problem is that there are not enough of them – they’re not getting the support they require and, as a result, they are leaving the system. It’s a highly pressurised and stressful role.

“I am seeking a commitment that the complete findings of this analysis be made public. I am requesting an assurance from the Government that failings identified be addressed

“At this point the Ambulance Service is in need of resuscitation. It requires political intervention to sort out the problems that exist. We should go back and look at the regional system,” concluded Deputy Lowry.