Ambulance delays to become election issue

Ambulance delays in Connemara – where three-hour waits have become the norm – are set to become an election issue for locals ahead of a meeting with the Health Minister.

Campaigners have been assured that Minister Varadkar will meet a delegation in Dublin before the end of the year.

A spokesperson for the Connemara Ambulance Crisis Steering Group said they were “very pleased” with assurances from Galway West TD Seán Kyne that the Minister will meet with them within the next two months.

The main issue which will be raised with Minister Varadkar will be the waiting time for ambulances to arrive following call-outs.

In recent months, the group has stepped up its campaign, warning that locals in need of urgent hospital care will die, as three-hour waits for an ambulance have become the norm.

“As it stands, it is a matter of time until a life is lost due to this delay in transferring patients to hospital. Already delay has impacted negatively on patients, for example, on victims of strokes where fast transfer to hospital is vital.

“It is also highly disrespectful to the people living in this community – we feel discriminated against because of where we live.

“We have several issues to take up with the Minister; the main one being the frequent two- to three-hour wait for an ambulance – from call out time to time of arrival at patient.

“In recent months, the group has received correspondence from some local doctors detailing serious delays in response time and expressing their concerns regarding patient safety,” a spokesperson said.

Recent incidents included a young mother who was haemorrhaging badly a few days after giving birth, who had to wait more than two hours for an ambulance; while separately, a doctor called an ambulance for a patient with a serious heart condition at 2.30pm, but he did not arrive at UHG until 6.45pm.

The group has also called on people to make ambulance response times a General Election issue, but asking representatives that they intended to do to improve the service.

Locals have also expressed frustration that the National Ambulance Service rejected their proposal that a Red Cross ambulance – which was paid for by community fundraising – be used to transfer patients from around Connemara to University Hospital Galway from around Connemara. The NAS claimed it was not up to standard. However, at a previous meeting with the NAS, locals said they would prefer a voluntary ambulance that was not up to standard, rather than one which can take three hours to arrive.

The campaigners also claim that despite several requests to the NAS for response times, they have still not been given statistics.

The group has also set up on online petition at change.org under the search term ‘Connemara ambulance’.