Ambulance waiting times in Tipperary described by Aontú as 'a scandal'

Figures released from the National Ambulance Service to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín through a series of Parliamentary Questions have been described as a scandal, according to Aontú PRO for the Mid West, Eric Nelligan.

Mr Nelligan said "We now know without any doubt that the National Ambulance Service is not meeting the response target times for emergencies. Figures for ambulance response times in the Mid West have risen from 16 minutes in 2019 to 25 minutes in 2022. The average response time for 2020 was 17 minutes while it was 22 minutes in 2021’’.

"These delays, coupled with the very large area and population covered by the Clare bases of the National Ambulance Service, is putting lives at risk. The Nenagh, Tipperary Town, Clonmel, Roscrea and Thurles bases have 15 ambulances and 76 staff to cover an area of approximately 4,300 square kilometres’’.

Delayed handover times when the ambulance reaches the hospital has doubled. 15% of ambulances took longer than one hour to hand over a patient in 2019, the figure for 2022 was 34 percent.

"This is wholly unacceptable and a further indictment on the Minister for Health and the HSE. We are breaking records for all the wrong reasons, including emergency department (ED) overcrowding and delays, numbers on trolleys and ever-lengthening waiting lists,’’ says Mr Nelligan.

"These ambulance delays come despite the rollout of the Pathfinder Service in Limerick and Waterford. Pathfinder is a service that was designed to improve outcomes for older people by providing safe alternative care at home rather than in hospital, and is provided by National Ambulance Service staff working with colleagues from HSE acute hospitals.

"Pathfinder aims to reduce congestion in busy EDs and makes for a better environment for patients and staff on the floor, while improving overall flow through the ED. The service enables increased ED capacity to care for other patients, by supporting this cohort of complex, frail patients at home.

"We know that last year 890 patients had died by the time the ambulance reached the scene of the callout. This is a significant jump from 2019 when the equivalent number was 757 people.

"This is no wonder when examples arise that are shocking in their nature; last year a patient was waiting 22 hours for an ambulance to arrive.

"Aontú is once again repeating the party’s call for investment, increased bed capacity and greater staffing of our hospitals here in Tipperary and the greater Mid West region,’’ said Mr Nelligan.