Calls for urgent reform to ambulance services in Limerick and for the Mid-West

A FIANNA Fáil TD is calling on the Taoiseach to improve ambulance waiting times in the Mid-West, in line with expanding capacity at University Hospital Limerick.

Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Willie O’Dea said that the ambulance service being centrally located in Limerick causes issues for getting to far outlying areas of Limerick, as well as Clare and North Tipperary.

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“As a result of that, we are exposed every day to lurid tales of people waiting five or six hours, or longer, for ambulances.

“These are people who urgently need to get to hospital.”

He asked the Taoiseach if it is proposed that the ambulance service be revamped in conjunction with moving forward with the HIQA recommendations to improve emergency and urgent care in the region.

Taoiseach Mícheál Martin said: “On the ambulances, we want to continue to improve and revamp our ambulance service. It is a national service.

“It causes a lot of challenges for the public and people generally in trying to understand the methodology or framework governing it. We will continue to engage with the National Ambulance Service, particularly in respect of its manifestation and how it works in the Limerick region.”

Deputy O’Dea also pointed out that “the safety of patients is central to these recommendations” and that the ESRI has projected that over the next 15 years, a further 600 model 4 hospital-type beds will be needed in the Mid-West.

He stressed that this is almost double the current capacity at University Hospital Limerick, which is already under severe stress.

The Taoiseach acknowledged the TD’s work in this area in calling for improved care for the people of the Mid-West.

“I know he has been a long-time advocate for health services in the Limerick region, in particular in light of the huge challenges that have faced acute services in the mid-west. I join him in paying tribute to all the staff working in our hospitals in the mid-west under difficult circumstances,” he said.

It was announced before Christmas by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill that all three HIQA recommendations will be progressed.

This includes increasing capacity at the current hospital, building another ancillary hospital site for elective procedures close to Dooradoyle and the longer-term plan of building another hospital, which would include another emergency department.