'Complete lack' of ambulance cover for many parts of West Cork needs to be addressed, says councillor

The provision of ambulances in West Cork needs to be urgently addressed because the current service is not fit for purpose, according to a local councillor.

The issue was raised in a motion proposed by Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington at the recent meeting of Cork County Council’s West Cork Municipal District.

The motion asked: “That this council would write to Robert Morton, director of the National Ambulance Service (NAS); Bernard Gloster, CEO of the HSE, and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and ask that they address, as a matter of urgency, the current status of the ambulance service and the complete lack of relevant cover for many rural parts of West Cork, which will have major health consequences if it not rectified immediately.”

Stark reality

Mr Harrington said that “on paper” West Cork has four 24-hour ambulances based at Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry, and Castletownbere, as well as one 12-hour ambulance based at Dunmanway.

He said: “The stark reality of what is on paper and what is on the ground is very different. Vehicles are rarely where they belong.

“For example, Clonakilty is often in Cork city on callouts, Castletownbere is often in Kerry, Bantry is often stuck in CUH during lengthy handovers and sometimes when this is complete they can be sent to the city to cover a callout.

“This then leaves West Cork completely exposed, with little or no cover, especially at night, because Skibbereen is then expected to cover the whole of West Cork, and if they get deployed then the nearest ambulance cover to West Cork can be two or three hours away.

“It has happened in the past that the nearest ambulance to cover Castletownbere was Caherciveen, which is three hours away.”

Extraordinary people 

Mr Harrington said that ambulance staff are “fantastic, dedicated, hard-working people, and they deserve to be treated much better than they are at the moment. Without these extraordinary people, many others would not be alive today.”

He said that staff were “getting burnt out and are suffering fatigue” as a result of the lack of resources.

Supporting the motion, Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said: “This has been around the block many times, and we are getting nowhere with it. To me, it looks like we are getting a third-world service. A car meeting an ambulance halfway — it wouldn’t happen in the bush.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy said that, in reality, someone needing an ambulance in Glanmire would be in Dublin quicker than someone needing an ambulance in Allihies would be in Cork, adding: “The service is under-resourced, and we need to step it up.”

It was agreed to write to the respondents identified in the motion.

• This article is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme