HSE claims improvement in East Cork ambulances

The HSE claims the recent introduction of advanced radio and communication technology has greatly enhanced the quality of the East Cork ambulance service.

The HSE said 70% of its services in the region now meet Health Information and Quality Authority standards and that further improvement, including extra paramedics and a second ambulance frequently available to serve Youghal and Midleton, can be expected.

The HSE recently met with the Save Youghal Ambulance and Midleton’s East Cork Needs an Ambulance groups.

The HSE delegation included Ger Reaney, HSE South’s hospital network manager; Dr Cathal O’Donnell, medical director of the National Ambulance Service; and Robert Morton, director of the HSE Ambulance Service.

Press and politicians were excluded “in the interests of more frank and open discussion”, according to the chairwoman of Save Youghal Ambulance, Tara O’Connell.

The two-hour discussion focused exclusively on the service provided between Midleton and Youghal. All sides were “very pleased” with the outcome, said Ms O’Connell.

The HSE said the Tetra and Automatic Vehicle Location systems are now operational after a lengthy industrial dispute, concerning the associated closure of the Cork ambulance control centre, had been resolved. The centre was now closed and control transferred to Dublin.

According to Ms O’Connell, the closure of the Cork centre means extra paramedics are available, enabling a second ambulance to replace the first-responder unit.

Meanwhile, the first-response vehicles system is not yet allowed to assess and discharge patients at the scene.

The HSE officials claimed a strategic deployment system now gives secondary ambulance cover in an area when the main ambulance is absent.

The HSE promised unspecified “new strategies” to ensure a faster return of trolleys at emergency departments&, thus releasing ambulance crews back to duty. Extra intermediate care vehicles to transport non-emergency patients to nursing homes etc, in place of ambulances, were promised for 2014.

The HSE also told the meeting the media “don’t always report accurately, does not tend to report success stories, and that four out of five reports on recent controversies had been retracted”, according to Ms O’Connell.