Call for urgent review of Donegal ambulance services due to staff burnout

Donegal-based ambulances are regularly being sent on round trips of up to six hours to other parts of the country, it has been claimed.

Donegal County Council has heard that ambulances are spending hours waiting outside Letterkenny University Hospital due to low bed capacity and staff are suffering from burnout.

Proposing a motion at Monday’s meeting of the council calling for an immediate ambulance service review, Cllr Gerry McMonagle (Sinn Féin) said meetings between councillors and the National Ambulance Service have not resulted in satisfactory answers.

The Letterkenny councillor said the ambulance service is “at crisis point” with staff having to work extremely long hours. Ambulances are being sent on trips of more 400km to locations including Ballinasloe and Mullingar which results in gaps in the cover in parts of Donegal, he said.

“The ambulance service is not fit for purpose and is not based on a rural model,” he said.

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The expenditure on private ambulances has increased from €2.1m in 2011 to €10.1m in 2019, he said, with €1.6m of the 2029 figure spent by Letterkenny University Hospital. Cllr McMonagle said the expenditure would be better spent on investment in the service in the county.

The motion was seconded by Cllr Albert Doherty who said there was a low take-up for overtime from ambulance staff in the county, an indication that they are suffering from exhaustion.

The situation is “very, very dire,” he warned and requires an immediate review of the geographic distribution of ambulance resources. 

The Inishowen councillor said there is still rawness in the peninsula after the death of Maureen Porter in 2013 who waited for almost an hour for an ambulance after being struck by a car close to her Carndonagh home. An investigation found the slow response was due to a five-hour back-up of ambulances at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Following the passing of the motion, Donegal County Council is to write to the Minister for Health requesting a meeting.