Fresh row over south Mayo ambulance service

A FRESH row has blown up over the ambulance service in south Mayo.

Depeuty Lisa Chambers has hit out there is no ambulance service whatever in the  Ballinrobe district.

She stated: “It is physically impossible for ambulances in the current bases in Mayo to reach south Mayo, and specifically Ballinrobe, which has a significant population, within the specified timeframes.

“We cannot afford to have ambulances taking longer than an hour to turn around when they cannot even get to where they are supposed to go in certain areas.

“I am appealing to the Taoiseach to ask the Minister for Health to explore the possibility of a full-time base to cover south Mayo.”

On ambulance targets, she said there is supposed to be a turnaround time of 60 minutes from when an ambulance drops a patient off at an emergency department and is ready to leave again.

“Some 22% of ambulances in Mayo failed to meet that target, taking more than an hour to get out of the emergency department,” she added.