Donegal ambulances struggling to meet national response targets, figures show

Concerns have been raised that ambulances queuing outside the Emergency Department at Letterkenny University Hospital are impacting response times to life-threatening calls.

On one day last month, it's reported that 12 ambulances were queued outside the hospital waiting to handover patients to emergency department staff, with delays continuing into the night and after midnight.

Meanwhile, figures from the National Ambulance Service show that the West and North West region has struggled to meet national response targets for life-threatening calls in recent months.

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For the most critical calls, the target is to reach 75% of incidents within 18 minutes and 59 seconds. While this target was exceeded in October 2025, it was not reached between November 2025 and January 2026.

For other life-threatening calls, where the target is 45% within the same timeframe, response times also dropped below target in both December 2025 (39%) and January 2026 (37%).

Chair of the Regional Health Forum Gerry McMonagle, said that a massive investment is needed in the National Ambulance Service.

“People are worried when they lift the phone and are waiting for an ambulance, and they are dependent on local ambulances, but probably eight times out of ten, it is more than likely coming from another part of the county and sometimes from outside the county," said Cllr McMonagle.

“So if you lose two ambulances from Inishowen because they are stacked up at Letterkenny, it is a long drive for ambulances coming from anywhere else to Inishowen to respond to calls. I know Derry helps a lot there, and that cross-border cooperation is very much welcome, but we need to be looking again at a county the size of Donegal, the geographic nature of it, and the road infrastructure, and that we need more investment in the ambulance service in Donegal immediately.”

Responding to the concerns, Brendan McGovern, General Manager of the National Ambulance Service West and North West, acknowledged the pressure on the service.

Demand for the service is increasing significantly, about 5% year on year.

Mr McGovern said: "The length of time for some of our responses is not where we would like it to be, and there are a number of reasons for that, including increased call volume, changes in people’s health-seeking behaviour, and the challenges we have in terms of capacity at hospitals.

“It is a matter of public record that the National Ambulance Service, not just in the west-northwest and Donegal but nationally, requires a lot of investment just to stand still, rather than increase capacity.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that we free up resources and return ambulances to the community as quickly as possible, working with our hospital colleagues as well.”

When ambulances are delayed at emergency departments, the National Ambulance Service said it works collaboratively with hospital colleagues to handover patients to emergency department staff in as short a time as it is safely possible to do so.