Fianna Fáil TD Eugene Murphy has said that unless ambulance turnaround times improve, lives will continue to be put at risk. New figures released to Fianna Fáil show that virtually all hospitals continue to miss the 20-minute turnaround time for the majority of ambulance calls, with University College Hospital Galway only recording a 6.7% success rate while Portiuncula only had a 12.7% success rate. The figures were for May 2017.
Deputy Murphy said: “Missing turnaround targets has a knock-on effect for the ambulance service as it makes it harder to respond to new call-outs in the target time if paramedics are delayed at hospitals.”
Deputy Murphy said Minister Simon Harris needs to work with the National Ambulance Service and the HSE National Hospital Managers to identify why these targets are not been met and to put in place implementation and oversight mechanisms to ensure that they are met into the future.
