Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has strongly condemned the failure of the outgoing government to properly manage the national ambulance service.

Teachta Cullinane was responding to the details of an audit of the National Ambulance Service which found that paramedic posts were being suppressed despite a need to double staffing, that records of assets held by the NAS were incomplete, and that new ambulances were needed but not funded.

The TD for Waterford said that the ambulance service needs a fully resourced five-year plan to double the paramedic workforce, upgrade the fleet, develop advanced and specialist paramedic grades, expand the work of the ambulance service and paramedics in local communities.

Teachta Cullinane said:

“There have been any number of audits and reviews and plans done for the Ambulance Service in the last few years, and the conclusion of all has been highly concerning. The national ambulance service is not performing at the level communities need it to.

“Annual performance targets for non-cardiac arrest life-threatening callouts were reduced under the outgoing government to hide the fact that they were dangerously off-target. Too many paramedics are working excessive hours. This is causing significant patient safety risks and driving burnout among the paramedic workforce.

“The Ambulance Service has a workforce plan, but it has not been funded to implement it. Sinn Féin would implement a multi-annual workforce plan for the health service because planning ahead is the only way that we will get on top of the challenges in health care.

“We need a clear plan, led by the Ministers for Health and Higher Education, that identifies how many staff we need and where they are going to come from, including both improved training and retention.

“This audit outlines how much-needed paramedic posts have been caught up in the mismanagement of the health budget under the last Government, and that new posts have been held up by the recruitment embargo. That is reckless. We know that we need to double the paramedic workforce, not hold back vital posts.

“The audit also outlines issues with the ambulance fleet, and highlights concerns around incomplete records – ambulances not being recorded, a full list of breakdown events not being available, and more. There appear to be a number of governance concerns arising.

“There are also concerns around outdated ambulances and equipment which needs to be replaced, but which has not been funded. The budget for new fleet and for maintenance needs to be improved to make sure the ambulance service can operate at the highest level to save lives.

“Sinn Féin would fund the NAS strategic plan to double the paramedical workforce and the ambulance fleet. More than 2,000 ambulance staff are needed. That will only be met with a radical increase in the number of paramedics in training, and efforts to increase international recruitment of appropriately qualified paramedics.

“We have also outlined the €15bn capital investment that is needed in the health service over the next five years, and this includes investment in the ambulance fleet.”