Sherlock insists ‘premature’ ambulance changes be postponed

THE Minister of State for research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock, has said the HSE’s imminent ambulance changes for Cork and Kerry must be postponed.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, after senior health service officials revealed controversial plans to drastically alter how care is delivered by next month, the Labour TD said the move was dangerous to the public.

Mr Sherlock, who is also chair of the Mallow Hospital Action Committee, said the initiative was “absolutely premature” and should be halted immediately as the details had yet to be ironed out. And in a warning over the safety of people in both counties, he added that expecting to use volunteer first responders to fill de facto gaps where ambulance services were previously in place, means it is inevitable patients lives will be needlessly put at risk.

He said: “To be frank, my view is that the roll-out of the service is absolutely premature because there are still issues to be dealt with, particularly the rural piece of the jigsaw.” He is also a vocal opponent of downgrading plans for smaller hospitals.

“First responders are not adequate for coping with trauma situations. There is still more work to be done on this before it is rolled-out, and it should be done on a trialled basis first. Rural GPs have clearly expressed a concern, particularly in terms of what happens when there are three ambulances at a scene and a fourth call comes in.

“A first responder vehicle may not be able to deal with that. This will work very well theoretically, but the reality is this shas not trialled or road-tested.

“What needs to happen is there has to be a further, deeper conversation with GPs and communities in Youghal, Newmarket and Rockchapel, I mention these areas because they are three rural locations affected. GPs do not feel confident about this new service,” he added.

Under the changes, which will be rolled out in north and east Cork early year, before expanding to the rest of the region by the end of 2012, on-call paramedic hours will be cut and replaced by moveable crew. There will also be less ambulances on the roads, with an emphasis on first responder volunteers to take care of their communities.

Large sections of the Cork and Kerry populations insist the alterations are cutbacks.

However, HSE national ambulance director, Robert Morton, has claimed this view is because “lies and fear” being spread in the affected areas.

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