Concerns as ambulance service unable to answer calls

LOCAL politicians have raised concerns about the level of ambulance cover after it emerged that new rostering arrangements have left the service struggling to respond to calls. SINN Féin Cllr Anne Campbell has expressed her concerns the ambulance service in the north-east, including Louth, is ‘significantly understaffed and having serious difficulties in providing a fit-for-purpose service. CLLR Campbell said; ‘I attended the recent strike action at Dundalk Ambulance Station and the staff there told me that the service is in disarray.

‘ THEIR reports of a skeleton service echo media reports which state that new rostering arrangements at ambulance stations in Monaghan and Castleblayney have had a negative impact on Dundalk, Drogheda and Ardee. ‘ACCORDING to media reports new rosters were imposed by management without the necessary additional staff to fulfil requirements,’ she continued. ‘In addition staff who are not on the roster for a particular day have told me that they are receiving up to ten texts a day offering overtime at different stations.’ FIANNA Fail TD Declan Breathnach raised the issue in the Dail, saying he received assurances from the Minister that six additional staff have been approved for the Monaghan and Castleblayney ambulance stations.

He said he was aware that staff were unable to respond to calls due to a lack of staff and a lack of vehicles being available. ‘For instance, on Wednesday night, within the nine stations in the north east a total of 22 staff should have been rostered for duty. Unfortunately, there were only 12 and in most cases they were rostered on a single person basis. Stations affected included those in Drogheda, Ardee, Virginia, Monaghan, Castleblayney and Dundalk.

‘ The service now has the same staff attempting to fill a bigger roster,’ he continued. ‘ They were already short staffed beforehand so this has added greatly to this serious problem.’