Emergency helicopter for babies won’t be 24-hour service
The service, which transports infants up to six weeks’ old to major hospitals for specialised treatment, currently only fields calls between 9am and 5pm.
Dr John Murphy, based at the National Maternity Hospital’s neonatal unit in Holles Street, Dublin, said the National Neonatal Transport Service could be extended with minimal funding. However, a doubling of staff would be necessary, he told the Irish Medical Times. Dr Murphy said the NNTS could be modelled on the Scottish service. “The Scottish system suits us well. Scotland is a lot like Ireland - a large country with very long distances to travel, not a very big population but a scattered population,” he said.
