‘Serious shortcomings’ in Laois ambulance service ‘need to be brought to light,’ and issues ‘need to be addressed’

“Serious shortcomings” in the ambulance service in Laois “need to be brought to light,” and issues “need to be addressed.”

That is according to Independent County Councillor Tommy Mulligan of the Portlaoise Municipal District.

Cllr Mulligan highlighted what he called “inadequacies of the operational systems” in the Laois ambulance service, saying paramedics are “experiencing incredible frustration” when carrying out their daily duties.

“Paramedics are a critical part of our community health service, and they provide our community with an invaluable service,” the Independent Councillor said.

“Ambulance resources have not matched the growing population of Laois over recent years.

“The 2022 Census revealed that the population of the county was 91,877 with the number of people aged 65 and over increasing 25%.

“Laois has one ambulance station in the county. Offaly have three ambulance stations with a population of 82,688 (Census 2022).”

Cllr Mulligan called for a second station in the county where Intermediate Care Vehicles (ICVs) could be based and used to transfer patients from one hospital to another where immediate intervention is not required.

Currently the emergency ambulances are carrying out these duties as the current dispatch protocol by the National Emergency Centre (NEC) is to send the nearest ambulance available at the time of the call, regardless of their station or region.

Cllr Mulligan said ambulance crews “favour the older system where crews always responded to calls within an acceptable radius of their base,” saying that gave “a better balance of resources and less chance of long distances between ambulance and patient.

“The focus is on statistics but should be on patient care and survival rates.

“By keeping ambulances in their locality, we can mobilise an ambulance immediately to get to the scene as soon possible as opposed to travelling from an hour away.

“The present operation system appears to be a system of chance in Laois. This is not satisfactory in my opinion and is not an adequate system for the people of Laois.

“An adequate ambulance service is essential for saving lives and ensuring that medical emergencies are handled with the necessary speed and expertise.”

Cllr Mulligan said the people of Laois “deserve an ambulance service we can have full confidence in,” and ambulance service staff “deserve to have a working operation system that they believe in.”

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