Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
809. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the delays being experienced by those who are waiting on ambulance services; the actions that his Department has taken to tackle these delays; the additional ambulances and plans to recruit more staff; and if he will consider dedicated ambulances to transport patients from hospitals to St. Luke's Hospital for treatment (details supplied). [37145/22]
View answer818. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of ambulance callouts which are cancelled due to the fact that the person decided to make their own way to the hospital by month over the past two years. [37184/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 809 and 818 together.
Ambulance services across the country are experiencing a very high demand for 999 services for patients. Last year saw a record of over 366,000 emergency ambulance calls placed and to date this year the number of calls received is running at over 12% higher than at the same period last year.
This year, an unprecedented €200.7 million has been allocated in the National Ambulance Service, which includes €8.3 million in funding for new service developments. This funding is being invested in building capacity in frontline emergency services as well as increasing staffing within the Hear and Treat service in the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), which advises lower acuity patients of appropriate alternatives to hospital transfer.
In regard to the Deputy's specific enquiries concerning patient transport I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly, as soon as possible.
