999 emergency response times 'failing to meet targets'
A local TD has highlighted the fact that almost half of all 999 emergency calls in the Western region result in an ambulance taking over 19 minutes to get to the scene of the incident.
The HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) standard stipulates that an ambulance should be at the scene of the incident within 19 minutes in 85% of cases.
However, Independent TD Denis Naughten pointed out that just 55% of all 999 calls in the region are meeting that response time.
“The fact is that delays in responding to life-threatening 999 calls and further transport delays in getting patients to hospital puts patients at a far higher risk of dying or having serious long term complications on foot of delayed treatments,” said Denis Naughten.
“Annually, about 10,000 people suffer a stroke and about 2,000 die each year, and access to hospital treatment is the difference between being able to walk out of hospital or not.”
Roscommon councillor Domnick Connolly commented: “It is bizarre that the HSE is very quick to achieve HIQA standards when it can be used as a cost-saving mechanism to close or downgrade a service such as our Accident & Emergency department
“In the case of ambulances, HIQA states that the HSE, through the National Ambulance service, should 'put in place progressive and ambitious objectives to meet the recommended targets’ but instead they are reducing such targets.”
He went on to say “sadly those without access to an A&E have to wait longest to get vital treatment”.
Another councillor, Laurence Fallon, added: “What is really frustrating is the fact that the HSE is closing smaller A&E departments by blaming the failure to achieve HIQA standards and is now replacing them with a ‘better service’ - namely an ambulance service which is failing to achieve its own watered down targets, never mind the HIQA standard.
“This is compounded by the failure of the HSE to disclose the actual ambulance response times to communities which have lost their A&E departments, which further undermines commitments to provide a visibly safer & better service to such communities.”