There are fears that ambulance wait times in Clare could soon be exacerbated if a strike goes ahead.
A union representing ambulance workers is threatening industrial action as a damning HSE internal audit has revealed the organisation doesn’t know how many functioning emergency vehicles it has.
SIPTU represents roughly 1,800 National Ambulance workers nationwide and this week, the union is claiming those workers haven’t been given sufficient priority by the Government in recent years.
An internal audit by the HSE into the NAS’s procurement and records processes has found that the organisation’s listings regarding its stock of emergency vehicles are “incomplete” and “not reflective” of the figures contained in the HSE’s annual reports.
It’s also been uncovered that there is no nationwide register for breakdowns of NAS vehicles and that the available information is “inaccurate”.
It’s understood that following discussions, ambulance workers are “eying a ballot” which could potentially lead to industrial action.
SIPTU Health Organiser John McCamley says they don’t want to go on strike but feel as if they’ve slipped through the cracks.
The Clare 2023 Survey conducted by Clare County Council in conjunction with the LCETB and Ireland Thinks last year found that 80% of people here would take a car to hospital, with just 10% saying they’d call an ambulance.
A new HIQA survey published this week meanwhile shows Ennis Hospital is the highest rated facility in the Midwest, receiving a score of 9/10, while University Hospital Limerick has received the lowest rating nationwide of 7.8.
Doonbeg Fianna Fáil Councillor and Regional Health Forum West Member Rita McInerney believes problems at UHL are connected to reduced access to ambulances in rural parts of Clare.
You can listen to the full interview here:
