The Minister for Health has been asked to attend the Seanad to answer questions by Cavan-Monaghan Senator Robbie Gallagher about ongoing dangerous ambulance response times in this area.
Last week, Northern Sound informed you about a cardiac patient in County Monaghan who died while waiting for an ambulance in December. That headline-grabbing story came from a person calling him / herself "concerned paramedic" who has a working knowledge of the National Ambulance Service in Cavan and Monaghan.
The 'Concerned Paramedic' felt compelled to contact this station after another whistle-blower from within the NAS first brought the dangerous situation to our attention.
Both contacts say stations are "grossly understaffed", that recruitment and retention into the ambulance service has been an issue for too long and now changes to rosters has cut back on overtime hours for existing staff. These factors and other complex operational factors have all resulted in large swathes of counties Cavan and Monaghan without ambulance cover.
The system the HSE has in place has meant that a Dundalk ambulance was sent to a call in Killybegs, a Cavan unit was dispatched to Wicklow and once a Monaghan ambulance responded to a call in Mullingar. Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallager asked Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to one to the Seanad to address the shocking reality.
