Ambulance service warns of weekend shortages at night

THE Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has warned of ambulance shortages this weekend, particularly during night shifts.

The situation has arisen because of insufficient staff.

Less urgent cases are most likely to be affected and “additional measures” are being put in place, the service said.

The issue was highlighted in a letter sent yesterday to the directors of all five health trusts and the Health and Social Care Board by Robert Sowney, interim director of operations at the ambulance service. Mr Sowney said the service was “anticipating and planning for ambulance resource challenges this weekend”.

The letter continued: “We have been unable to completely fill our staffing rosters for various reasons and this will impact on the number of ambulances available — in particular during the night shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

Mr Sowney said a number of additional measures are being put in place.

But he said it is likely colleagues across the health and social care sector “will experience delays in NIAS response to less urgent requests for transport”.

However, there will be “increased ambulance service management presence” both in local areas and within emergency ambulance control.

He added: “We would also request the support of HSC Trust colleagues in relation to minimising any delays in patient handover at emergency departments so we can make our staff available to answer urgent calls in the community as quickly as possible.”

Mr Sowney asked for the information to be shared with GP practices and out-of-hours providers.

NIAS was contacted for a response.