Rose Conway-Walsh demands urgent ambulance review over long waits
Rose Conway-Walsh urged an urgent review of ambulance resources and configuration, arguing the emergency service is under-resourced and causing dangerous delays. She cited long patient waits, staff burnout, and specific incidents in Mayo, and asked about the booster vaccine rollout for housebound older people.
Main concerns and call for urgent review
Rose Conway-Walsh told the Minister that the ambulance service needs an urgent review to ensure it is adequately resourced and run efficiently and effectively. She acknowledged the "Trojan work" of paramedics and emergency staff but said workers are burnt out from long, exhausting shifts and that seriously ill patients can wait up to two and a half hours for an ambulance.
Rural coverage and fleet expansion
She warned against ambulances crisscrossing hundreds of kilometres and called for an expanded ambulance fleet so rural communities are properly served. Rose Conway-Walsh said stopping long-distance transfers and improving local coverage are central to protecting and saving lives.
Local incidents and hospital offloading delays
She described accounts of routine delays in offloading patients at emergency departments due to lack of capacity and nursing staff. She referred to nurses protesting outside Mayo University Hospital and recounted a case of an 85-year-old cancer patient who waited over six hours outside Mayo University Hospital with no morphine after being referred by Westoc.
Staffing ratios and recruitment barriers
Rose Conway-Walsh highlighted severe staffing shortages, saying nurse-to-patient ratios in Mayo can be as high as 1 to 15 instead of 1 to 7, contributing to ambulances lining up outside hospitals. She also raised barriers for UK-trained paramedics transferring registration, saying they report it is easier to go to Australia than to return to work in Ireland.
Questions on booster vaccine rollout
She asked the Minister whether the national ambulance service will be used for this round of booster vaccinations and requested a timeline for housebound people in their 80s and 90s receiving boosters. The question sought clarity on whether the same rollout arrangements used previously would be repeated and when vulnerable, housebound older people would be vaccinated.
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Go raibh agat, cancórle. Minister, it is very obvious we need an urgent review of ambulance resources and the configuration to ensure this emergency service is adequately resourced and run efficiently and effectively. I do want to acknowledge the Trojan work of the dedicated paramedics and other emergency staff. I have seen firsthand what their absolute dedication and they deserve much better than what they are being presented with at the moment. We are talking about protecting lives here and saving lives and retaining and supporting and protecting ambulance workers, workers that are burnt out from long, exhausting shifts. Minister, how can you stand over an emergency service that is constructed and resourced in a way that means seriously ill patients are waiting up to two and a half hours for an ambulance? The bottom line is we need to stop the crisscrossing of ambulances travelling hundreds of kilometres by expanding our ambulance fleet and ensuring that rural communities are served properly. Yesterday I joined the nurses outside Mayo University Hospital when they were protesting about conditions and about the safety and that was the most word that they used was the concern they had for safety of patients and safety of staff and that should concern you and it certainly should concern us all. I hear accounts of routine delays of offloading patients at an emergency department due to lack of capacity. They have raised the issue of severe lack of nursing staff to take over the care of patients from the ambulances and this is what is happening. Right now in Mayo the nurse to patient ratio can be as high as 1 to 15 instead of 1 to 7 due to the staffing shortages there and that is the problem where ambulances are lined up outside the hospital. Two weeks ago I spoke to a family of an 85 year old woman, a cancer patient who waited outside Mayo University Hospital for over six hours with no morphine as she was referred by Westoc. No morphine in pain outside Mayo University Hospital. The other point I want to make to you Minister is it should be much easier for UK trained paramedics to transfer their registrations to work in Ireland. They tell me that it is easier for them to go to Australia than it is to come back to their own country. So we need to address the crisis in the ambulance service and indeed in the wider health service. I want to ask you as well Minister in relation to the national ambulance service and the rollout of the booster vaccine particular to those that they rolled it out before. Are they going to be doing the same thing this time and what is the timeline for that? So people who are in their 80s and 90s who are housebound, when are they going to get the booster vaccine and is it going to be through the national ambulance service? Thank you. Anyone else suffering in this slot? Thank you. Anyone else suffering in this slot? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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