The National Ambulance Service (NAS), in line with a Labour Court decision, is in the process of introducing on-duty rostering to replace existing on-call arrangements. This means that on-duty ambulance crews are at their stations or in their vehicles during a shift, rather than having to be summoned to the station in the event of a call-out. Therefore, crews can respond to an emergency call immediately, instead of the average time of over 20 minutes for a vehicle to leave the station under on-call. This change, which was sought by both staff and the NAS, has obvious benefits for patients and response times and represents a clear improvement in service.
The NAS intends to introduce on-duty rostering and dynamic deployment of emergency resources, on a phased basis, across the entire Cork and Kerry region. So far, on-duty and dynamic deployment arrangements have been successfully introduced across County Cork, most recently in West Cork.
The NAS informs me that planning for the next phase, in South Kerry, can now be progressed. This phase will include ambulance stations in Caherciveen, Killarney and Kenmare. As in each phase to date, any decisions on the best model of service for South Kerry will be preceded by detailed consideration of activity, geography, demographics, location of acute hospitals and other facilities, supporting services, wider NAS developments and learning from previous phases, as well as public, clinical and community leader engagement.
The HSE is currently considering the most appropriate model of service delivery for South Kerry, to replace the current on-call, static deployment model and the operation of resources in isolation. No decisions have so far been made and a number of matters need to be progressed before deliberations in relation to South Kerry can be finalised. These include public, staff and clinical (including GP) consultations, continuing national reconfiguration of the control and dispatch system and the ongoing roll-out of the Intermediate Care Service for inter-facility patient transport in the region. A final model will emerge once this process is completed.
In light of the above, all stakeholders should take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the consultation process, as the most effective and appropriate forum to engage with the HSE and the NAS in relation to proposals for changes in emergency service delivery in South Kerry.
In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
