Site being sought in Midleton for ambulance centre

A Cork county councillor has welcomed that the HSE is in the process of selecting a site to house a purpose-built centre of excellence for the ambulance service in Midleton.

Fianna Fáil councillor for East Cork, Ann Marie Ahern, brought forward a motion at a recent meeting of the HSE Health Forum South at Cork County Hall requesting an update on plans for a new ambulance base in the town.

Ms Ahern asked the HSE to advise if a new permanent building is in the plans for the ambulance service, incorporating staff quarters, offices, and secure locked dispensing units, as staff are currently working out of portable buildings.

Rob Moriarty of the National Ambulance Service (NAS) confirmed that the general manager of NAS South West and the general manager of NAS Estates met with HSE Estates on October 25 to review progress.

While Mr Moriarty could not confirm an exact date for completion of the purpose-built ambulance station, he confirmed that the project is at site selection phase and a suitable site that serves the needs of the service that is outside the flood risk zone is being sought.

“Once suitable sites are identified, a full capital submission will be made to the National Capital and Property Steering Group for approval to proceed with a capital project to replace the current infrastructure,” he said.

When asked if interim measures could be put in place for staff until a permanent base is developed, Mr Moriarty said the objective is to secure the capital funding for a purpose-built facility, and he does not foresee any capital investment short of that.

“I have an annual small budget for minor improvements at station level and I’ll certainly look at Midleton again within that scope but that’s quite limited. 

“The long term objective for Midleton is a purpose-built centre of excellence, but that will take time.”