Mattie McGrath calls ambulance delays a 'scandal' for south-east
Deputy Mattie McGrath criticised ambulance waiting times and described a "two-tier system" affecting the south-east, including Tipperary. He raised concerns about an unopened CAT lab, long response distances and people dying while waiting for ambulances.
Main accusations
The deputy said the situation amounted to a scandal and a two-tier system for the people of the south-east, singling out Tipperary. He accused the system of long waits, an unopened CAT lab and a national ambulance service failing local communities.
Ambulance response and waiting times
The speech detailed examples of very long waits - three, four, five and six hours - and ambulances travelling large distances to answer 999 calls. The deputy claimed calls were marked as responded to while an ambulance might be 120 miles away, leaving patients effectively unattended.
Staff fatigue and operational failures
The deputy warned that ambulance personnel are fatigued and being burned out by excessive distances and demand. He described crews meeting on the road and failing to collect sick patients, and said people have lost their lives as a result.
Parliamentary reply and clinical timeframes
A parliamentary reply suggested the issue might be better raised at health questions with the minister or under a topical issue. A respondent noted that with heart attacks and MIs the critical period is increasingly understood to be from symptom onset rather than the 90 minutes from the time of the call, and that this understanding has improved in recent years.
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This is a scandal and it's a two-tier system for the people of the south-east of which Tipperary is included, you have to wait that length of time and there's a further problem, apart from the cat lab not being opened, there's a huge problem with the national ambulance service and waiting times there and people dying on the roadside, dying in their home, waiting for three and four and five and six hours and ambulances flying all over the country just because they're ticking boxes of a time when an ambulance 999 calls responded to, they have an ambulance responded but they're not telling you that it could be 120 miles by the way, it could be the only God, it's a fascinating game that's been played with people's lives and it's not good enough and this has been raised countless times in here, the ambulance staff and personnel are fatigued, the ambulance are getting burned down with the distances and they're doing nothing, meeting each other on the road and failing to collect sick patients and people have lost their lives and we're going to continue with this fast, it's disgraceful because the people of Ireland and rural people and urban are entitled to and deserve a better service and the two are linked because you know that 90 minutes is crucial time for half the text but for any other services as well they have to wait or let's go by care. Thank you Deputy, it's increasingly understood with heart attacks with MIs that the time period that's most relevant is from the point in which the person starts to experience symptoms rather than the 90 minutes from the time that they make the call so there's better understanding of that in recent years. I appreciate the comments the Deputy has made but I think perhaps the best place to raise this would be health questions with the Minister or perhaps under a topical issue. Thank you.
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