Lowry highlights doctor on call service and limited local injury services in Tipperary

Having called on An Taoiseach Micheal Martin to commit to an urgent Independent Review of the National Ambulance Service, Tipperary Independent Deputy Michael Lowry has also highlighted the need for a full and thorough review of the Doctor on Call Services and the limited services provided at Local Injury Clinics.

"Together with an Independent Review of the Ambulance Service there must be a thorough scrutiny of the Doctor on Call System. We must also review the limited services provided at Local Injury Clinics.

Deputy Michael Lowry

"A review must also deal with the issue of the time lapse involved in handing over patients by paramedics to hospitals. Ambulance delayed is a patient service delayed," he said during Leaders Question in the Dail on Tuesday.

"Of the 35 Doctors practicing across North Tipperary, only 1 is required to be available out of hours. If a worried patient cannot access medical care, they will call an ambulance. This can result in them ending up in an overcrowded A&E with a non-urgent condition, most likely laying for hours on a overcrowded hospital corridor.

"The entire system at present is a total fiasco. It is a mammoth failure which must be addressed by Government Action," stated Deputy Lowry in Dáil Éireann.