Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has expressed concern that the ambulance service in Donegal is underfunded and understaffed.
There are currently sixteen day ambulances and twelve night time ambulances on call in Donegal which is a 16% decrease in coverage since 2012.
This is despite growth in demand for the service and new guidelines from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) which requires an ambulance to be able to arrive at a patient within twenty minutes of being called out.
Pat the Cope criticized the lack of service in the area: “This is another example of how this Government has allowed services in rural Ireland decline to critical levels, despite all the plans and strategies of the Government for rural development there is not tangible evidence of service improvements on the ground in rural Ireland.”
In 2012 there were 19 day time ambulances available in Donegal, this figure dropped by 16% to sixteen ambulances in 2016. The number of night time ambulances did rise slightly from 11 ambulances in 2012 to 12 in 2016. Nationwide, 620 additional ambulance staff are required.
“I am calling on him to ensure that our ambulance service is fit for purpose and has the necessary resources to carry out its duties and in particular deliver the service levels for rural areas – in terms of call out times, ambulance availability and geographical coverage within Donegal. “