Full 24/7 ambulance cover in new year
SEVEN AMBULANCES WILL NOW BE AVAILABLE DURING THE DAY
COUNTY Wexford is to benefit from full 24/7 ambulance provision at the start of the new year, it has been confirmed by the HSE.
While back in April of this year this newspaper reported that the Ambulance Service in the county was to see its biggest intake in staff since 2003, resulting in 24/7 cover for all of the main towns for the first time in almost 16 years, it has now been confirmed that these improvements will be put in place in January.
The move will see a total of seven ambulances available in the county during the day, with four available at night and six available over the weekend. In terms of staffing, a total 12 new paramedics are to take up positions in the region, five of whom are to be assigned to Enniscorthy, while another two will be made available to Wexford town.
It was confirmed last week that these changes are to be made next month, once roster negotiations are complete.
Fianna Fáil TD James Browne said that the news had been a long time coming.
‘This is the news we have all been waiting for in Wexford, and is long overdue,’ he said. ‘It’s an issue I have been raising long before I was a TD and I am very pleased that it is now finally coming to pass.’
Meanwhile, Independent councillor and Advanced Paramedic with the National Ambulance Service Ger Carthy said the news was welcome.
‘Any increase in the availability of vehicles is to be welcomed,’ he said. ‘We’ve been under resourced in Wexford for a number of years and Chief Ambulance Officer Nicky Glynn deserves credit for his foresight to meet the demand. It’s something that’s long been sought from a trade union point of view with not a lot of luck.’
‘This announcement will help, but will not alleviate all our problems,’ Cllr Carthy continued.
‘There’s still a major issue around Primary Care, the deployment of caredoc and the amount of presentations to A&E. People need to be educated on what qualifies as an emergency. Caredoc needs to travel to these places in rural Wexford and treat people and not just pass it onto an already overburdened ambulance service.’
Cllr Carthy pointed to a new scheme in Cork which sees an A&E consultant deployed in an ambulance car to assess patients and avoid people unnecessarily being brought to A&E.
‘It’s disappointing that this scheme wasn’t rolled out here as well and that the Minister would think less of the needs of the people of Wexford than those in Cork,’ he concluded.