Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 21 Apr 1998

Vol. 489 No. 6

Written Answers. - Ambulance Services.

John McGuinness

Question:

410 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will allocate funds to the South-Eastern Health Board to enable the board to upgrade its ambulance crew to a two person crewing system in order to improve the response time of the service; and his views on the issues raised in the recent report regarding this matter. [8691/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

This year I provided an additional £620,000 to the South-Eastern Health Board for the development of its ambulance service and a sum of £125,000 for the commissioning of a new ambulance command and control centre at Wexford General Hospital. This is the highest level of funding which has been provided to the board in a single year since the publication of the report of the review group of the ambulance service in 1993 and brings to approximately £2 million the total funding made available to the South-Eastern Health Board for this purpose. It is a matter for the board to identify the priority areas it wishes to develop in relation to the implementation of the report's recommendations, including the provision of two person crewing.

I presume the Deputy is referring to the recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the ambulance service. While endorsing my Department's approach to the development of the service on the basis of the report of the review group of the ambulance service, the Comptroller and Auditor General's report highlights divergences in ambulance service response times and costs in different parts of the country. It should be borne in mind that response times are only one of a number of factors which need to be taken into account in assessing ambulance service performance and measurses for monitoring and assessment of ambulance response times and quality of care are being introduced this year. This will accelerate the development and introduction of performance measurement in the ambulance service, including the development of response time standards.