AN INTERNAL AMBULANCE Service report which warned of “extreme risks” to the health service as a consequence of badly designed management structures should be published, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said. 

Documents obtained by The Journal in April revealed significant concerns for National Ambulance Service (NAS) management structures and also concerns around staffing levels and funding. 

The report entitled ‘NAS Organisational Redesign’ from 6 December 2022 was scathing in its criticism.

“The underdeveloped nature of the management structures in NAS has led to a number of significant issues creating a high and unsustainable level of risk exposure for the HSE,” the report author stated. 

The matter was raised with Martin today during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil by Independent TD Michael Lowry.

He told the Dáil that over the past eight years, the number of people who died before an ambulance reached their location increased by an alarming 70%. Last year alone, 1,108 people died before an ambulance arrived on the scene, he said.

“In one high-priority case, it took three hours and 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to a critically ill patient.” he said, stating the ambulance service is in a serious state of disarray.

Call-out system has failed

Lowry told the Tánaiste the the centralised call-out system has failed, stating that the service was much more effective and efficient when managed in regional hubs.

“There is now a national system which is poorly managed and coordinated. Many personnel in the system have lost confidence in the functionality of the system. It is not cost effective,” he said. 

Speaking about the report, which was reported on by The Journal, Lowry said it has been “kept under wraps”, highlighting that details could were only obtained under freedom of information by this publication.

“The findings confirm beyond doubt that every issue I and others in this House have raised were factual and verifiable, so much so that the report was deemed scathing in its criticism. It revealed that the ambulance structure is underdeveloped and under-resourced. Six areas were considered high risk or extreme risk,” he told Martin. 

The Tánaiste said that investment in the National Ambulance Service has gone up by 37% since 2019, stating that it has an allocation this year of €231 million and a 23% increase in staff since that same year.

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There has been significant growth in demand for services, with 389,000 calls received in 2023, the Tánaiste explained.

Lowry asked for a commitment that the complete findings of the report that is with the HSE be made public. 

“It is a highly pressurised, stressful and tiring role. The ambulance service, if you will excuse the pun, is in need of resuscitation. The sooner we realise that and act on it, the better results we will get,” said the TD.

“The report should be published. I will speak to the Minister for Health about the up-to-date position. I understand it received significant media attention in one publication. If a report is commissioned by a service, it should be published openly by the HSE,” The Tánaisite said.

With reporting by Niall O’Connor