Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:73 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children the way in which he proposes to improve and develop the ambulance service in the country; and the EU rules which affect his proposals. [10665/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 7 April 2004
Ceisteanna (80)
Freagraí scríofa
The Eastern Regional Health Authority, ERHA, and each of the seven health boards are responsible for the provision of ambulance services in their functional areas.
The policy on the development of emergency medical services in Ireland is set out in a number of documents including: Quality and Fairness — A Health System for You; Building Healthier Hearts, the Government's cardiovascular health strategy; the strategic review of the ambulance service 2001; and the report of the national task force on medical staffing — the Hanly report.
Funding provided by my Department in recent years has facilitated significant advancements in the development of the ambulance service in line with the recommendations of these reports including: a major upgrading in training and standards; the equipping of emergency ambulances with defibrillators and the training of ambulance personnel in their use; the introduction of two person crewing; and an upgrading of the ambulance fleet and equipment and improvements in communication equipment and control operations.
The report of the strategic review of the Ambulance Service 2001, which forms the basis for the development of pre-hospital emergency medical services into the future, identifies aspects of the current emergency ambulance service which need to be addressed to bring it into line with best international practice to ensure effective and quality driven practices.
The report recommends that the service be developed at a number of levels. Principal among the proposed developments are: the elimination of on-call as a means of providing emergency cover; improved fleet reliability; and the roll-out of the emergency medical technician-advanced, EMT-A, programme.
The elimination of on-call is designed to facilitate further improvement in response times. I was pleased to be in a position to provide funding in excess of €3 million in the current year to facilitate the continuing phasing out of on-call in a number of regions. This is a programme which I hope to be in a position to extend. With regard to improved fleet reliability, my Department provided additional capital funding of €2.5 million in December 2003 to enable the boards/authority to continue with fleet and equipment replacement programmes which are essential pre-requisites for enhanced speedy and appropriate care.
In addition, I have announced policy approval for the development of the emergency medical technician-advanced, EMT-A, programme. Considerable work has been done by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council in conjunction with my Department in preparing the legislation necessary to give effect to the introduction of this programme in the current year.
The EU directive which impacts directly on the development of the emergency ambulance service is the CEN, Comite European de Normalisation, Directive. The CEN directive relates to the standardisation of specifications in regard to the design, performance and equipping of road ambulances used for the transport of sick and injured persons. The Eastern Regional Health Authority and the health boards have a fleet management system in place which incorporates a formal vehicle replacement policy. My Department is advised that the design specifications laid down by the authority/health boards for replacement vehicle purchase are in full compliance with the specifications of the CEN directive.
I assure the Deputy that the Government is fully committed to the development of our emergency ambulance service and that my Department will continue to pursue a policy of improving key aspects of the emergency medical service to ensure that those calling on the service receive timely and appropriate care.