Ambulance Service planning reforms to improve local cover

Ambulance Service planning reforms to improve local cover

26 April 2017

AMBULANCE Service chiefs are planning to introduce “significant reforms” to improve the organisation’s performance in South Down, it has been confirmed.

The news emerged when Chris Hazzard MLA met with senior officials from the organisation to discuss concerns around emergency response times in the area.

Mr Hazzard — who met with chief executive Shane Devlin and operations director Brian McNeill —  discussed the future of ambulance provision in South Down in the wake of recent concerns that emergency cover is not adequate.

The MLA is also keen for South Eastern Trust officials to meet with the Ambulance Service to reduce the amount of time it is taking to release ambulances from the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald once they have off-loaded patients to medical staff.

Mr Hazzard’s meeting came three weeks after the Downpatrick area was left without emergency ambulance cover for a short period when, as a result of staffing issues, only one vehicle was available. When it responded to a road traffic accident on Saturday, April 8, there were no paramedics to provide immediate assistance if required.

The issue came to light when a 999 call was made at 11.20pm to provide assistance to a Downpatrick teenager who had twisted his knee. With no ambulance available, the teenager was helped into a private car and driven to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

At the time, the Ambulance Service said it regrets any delay in responding to calls for assistance, asking the public to use the service “appropriately” to ensure the organisation can continue to provide the highest level of care to the most seriously ill.

Mr Hazzard said given what he described as a “number of worrying incidents” over recent times in relation to ambulance cover in South Down, he was keen to explore what reforms can be introduced to improve future capacity. 

“Recently, too many patients in South Down have been forced to wait unsatisfactory times for an ambulance to arrive, leaving some with no choice but to make their own way to the Ulster Hospital,” said the MLA following his meeting.

Mr Hazzard said he was heartened to learn the Ambulance Service is planning to introduce significant reforms to its operations that will see a much improved performance for areas such as South Down.

“Modifications to call handling, classification, and widespread workforce planning improvements will hopefully bear fruits for our local community as capacity problems have dogged performance for too long now,” explained the MLA, confirming he also raised with ambulance officials the “extremely poor performance of the Ulster Hospital” in turning around ambulances within the specified target of 30 minutes.

He continued: “Unlike the Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and Derry’s Altnagelvin, who both release approximately 70 per cent of ambulances back into their respective areas on time, the Ulster Hospital only releases 29 per cent of ambulances within the 30-minute period and this has a hugely negative impact on ambulance cover in the wider Down area. 

“This is an issue that must be tackled urgently. It is entirely unacceptable that this problem persists year after year and it is now crucial South Eastern Trust officials sit down with the Ambulance Service and find an increasing role for the Downe Hospital in Downpatrick to alleviate the pressure.”