Ambulance service is paying out €1,200 to change a tyre

THE HSE’s National Ambu- lance Service is paying as much as €1,200 each time to have a tyre or wheel replaced.

After a wheel on an ambulance is replaced, the vehicle has to be taken for a 50km drive by mechanics and the wheels retorqued before the vehicle returns to service.

However, according to paramedics, this was not always done and while it is now standard procedure, they say €1,200 is a conservative figure.

A NAS spokesman said: ‘Procedures in relation to the removal and refitting of wheels on all emergency ambulances – Ford and Mercedes – have been in place for some time. The current procedures are in place since 2013. ‘As with other marques, if a Mercedes requires service or maintenance it is performed through the Mercedes network, to ensure the vehicle is serviced and maintained to the manufacturer’s recommendations.’

The NAS has not denied the ambulance source claims that changing a wheel or tyre costs around €1,200.

The ambulance service said: ‘Costs vary according to the requirement of the vehicle. Costs increase depending on whether a call-out and distance charges apply for roadside assistance.’ In early 2014, a wheel came off an ambulance that was carrying a patient in Dundalk, Co. Louth.

A fortnight later, paramedics received a memo instructing them to check the wheels on their vehicles before beginning their shifts.

Yellow wheel nut markers, designed to give an early indication if a wheel nut has come loose, were later fitted to all front-line ambulances.

Last August, two back wheels fell off an ambulance while it was taking a patient between hospitals in Donegal and Galway.

The NAS has confirmed that following the incident, all Mercedes ambulances operating in the area were recalled.