Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:21. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health if his Department tendered for the provision of air ambulance services. [27761/18]
View answerThursday, 28 June 2018
Questions (21)
Written answers
In late 2016 the Department of Defence informed my Department that due to a shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers, the Air Corps would not be able to sustain the level of service previously provided for the transfer of Priority One paediatric transplant patients to the UK. This was compounded when, following a review, the Irish Aviation Authority indicated that all patient transfers provided by the Irish Coast Guard had to be operated under Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) rules. This meant that aircrew providing HEMS would be restricted to a maximum of 12-hour duty cycles with the result that for UK Priority 1 patient transfers, the Coast Guard was no longer available to provide air transfers between the hours of 7pm and 7.30am from 5 September 2017.
At my Department’s request, HIQA carried out an urgent Health Technology Assessment to provide advice on the options for the treatment and transport of Priority 1 transfer patients. The Health Technology Assessment advised that in the short term, Priority 1 transfers would best be provided through a private provider. A temporary arrangement was made by the HSE with a private provider pending the completion of a tender process.
The HSE has now completed the formal tendering process for the provision of an established air ambulance service to transfer Priority 1 paediatric transplant patients to the UK between 7pm and 7.30am. The contract was awarded to Air Alliance Express and will be in place for a 2-year period. It is envisaged that most of the patients who will use this service will be children who need to go the UK to undergo major organ transplant. The Air Alliance Express service has been operational since 23 April 2018.