Siptu says review of ambulance response times has to look at resources provided

Trade union Siptu has urged that the Health Information and Quality Authority should be allowed to consider the level of resources available to the ambulance service when it reviews response times to emergency calls.

Siptu health division organiser Paul Bell said yesterday that funding and staffing levels made available to the ambulance service in the Republic of Ireland were inferior to those applying in Northern Ireland and in Scotland.

“It is our understanding that Hiqa will shortly be undertaking a review of the ambulance service’s performance in relation to a number of key performance indictors [KPI].

“Central to these is whether ‘first responders’ are responding to emergency calls within the just under eight minutes recommendation for situations classed as life-threatening.

“This follows reports in recent weeks of incidents where this response time was not achieved and may have led to a tragic outcome for patients.

“In order to properly review the ability of the ambulance service to achieve its targets in relation to these KPIs, which are based on similar targets implemented by ambulance services in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Hiqa review must also examine the resourcing of the various services.”

Public confidence
Mr Bell said staff in the ambulance service and the wider public must have confidence resources allow for the achievement of KPIs based on best international practice.

He said research by Siptu indicated the approximate annual budget for the ambulance service in the Republic of Ireland was €130 million compared to £200 million (€240 million) in Scotland. He said the populations covered by these services were about 4.6 million in the Republic of Ireland and 5.3 million in Scotland.

Mr Bell said there were 1,121 people employed in the ambulance service in Northern Ireland covering six counties and about 1,550 in the Republic over 26 counties. “Hiqa must make its findings on these issues known to the Minister for Health who is obliged to act in a manner which ensures that the ambulance service is resourced so that it can achieve the level of excellence that our members are committed to attaining.”

Mr Bell called on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on health to hold hearings "at which all the stakeholders can contribute to the discussion on why KPI targets are not being attained".

“Full discussion of these issues would raise the morale of the professionals who work in the service and restore public confidence,” he said.