Ambulances called 33 times for CUH transfers

Ambulances, including units based at stations in Fermoy, Macroom, and Youghal, were summoned 33 times last year to transfer patients just 800m across campus at Cork University Hospital (CUH), according to a log of ambulance callouts obtained under FOI requests.

The suitability of using ambulances to transfer patients from the standalone acute mental health (AMHU) unit to the nearby emergency department (ED) in the main hospital has been repeatedly criticised by staff working in the unit.

Siptu shop steward, Des McSweeney, a mental health nurse working in the 50-bed unit, has written to both Health Minister Simon Harris and Mental Health Minister Helen McEntee highlighting the issue.