Connacht Tribune
Minister suggests voluntary first-responders as solution to ambulance issue
The Minister for Health has infuriated campaigners for a proper ambulance service in North Connemara – by indicating that the only practical way to improve ambulance response times in rural areas was to do it themselves.
Simon Harris suggested that the best option was through voluntary community first-responders, in replying to Galway West Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív.
BY TIM RYAN
He said the Minister recently met a delegation from Connemara to discuss the ambulance service.
“I was surprised to get a reply from him telling me that the solution to the rural areas ambulance problem is a do-it-yourself job of voluntary responders,” he said.
“It seems to me to be a shocking response. I am not against volunteerism, but I do not see why rural people are always expected to do the DIY job when urban people rightly expect it to be done properly,” he said.
In response, Minister Simon Harris said ambulance turnaround times measure the time interval from ambulance arrival at a hospital, to when the crew is ready to accept another call.
“When the emergency care system is under pressure, there is the potential for delay in the transfer of care of patients from ambulance to emergency department personnel,” he said.
“I accept that in a number of hospitals, including those highlighted in the individual questions, the emergency departments are particularly busy and this can contribute significantly to delays in ambulance turnaround.”
Minister Harris did tell Deputy Ó Cuív that he was determined to make sure that people throughout this country, regardless of whether they live in rural or urban areas, get better access to ambulances in a more timely manner is by investing in the national ambulance service.
“That is what we are doing. The €7.2 million of extra funding in 2016 for the service will be supplemented by a further €3.6 million, including another €1 million for new developments.”
In order to meet HIQA response times, because of the demographic layout of this country the Minister said he was going to need to continue to see additional contributions from community first-responders.
“They are doing a superb job around this country, as the Deputy has acknowledged, but with the best will in the world, even as we continue to increase ambulances, as we are going to do, and continue to increase the number of paramedics, which we are doing, we still require community first-responders to help support rural Ireland. It is not just rural Ireland but urban Ireland as well,” he added.
Separately the Connemara Ambulance Crisis Steering Group expressed their ‘disgust’ at a separate Dail response on the issue – this time to Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald – on the issue.
She asked the Minister to outline his plans to address the issue – including a response to the group’s own suggestion to base an ambulance in an empty Garda barracks.
But Minister Harris said that this was ‘a service mater’ and he would get the HSE to response directly to Deputy McDonald.
“We are furious at this lack of response to the seriousness of the matter and at the treatment dished out to the people living in North West Connemara – and indeed to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to Connemara annually, some of whom will definitely need an ambulance,” said Patricia Keane, on behalf of the North West Connemara Ambulance Crisis Steering Group.
“Enough is enough – it is time we, as a group, became more serious in our campaign. This is, after all, a basic human right to which we are being denied,” she added.
The Steering Group have been campaigning for over two and a half years for an improvement in their ambulance service which has been known to leave patients waiting two to three hours for an ambulance from call-out time to time of arrival at patient.
The Group met with Leo Varadkar when he was Minister for Health, with the HSE, the Red Cross, local TDs and more recently with the present Minister Simon Harris as well.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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