Long awaited improvements to the ambulance service in Connemara have finally been confirmed, with extra staff and vehicles coming by the end of the year.
Galway West TD Éamon Ó CuÃv said that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly informed him of major upgrades planned for the ambulance service during his visit to the vaccination centre in Galway on Wednesday.
The additions to the service will include two new vehicles and eleven new staff members, with “immediate funding and implementation”.
The two vehicles will include an ambulance, available 12 hours a day all week, and a rapid response vehicle.
Among the new staff for the service will be a Paramedic Supervisor and a Clinical Supervisor.
“I would like to thank the local campaign committee in Connemara for their unstinting work on this issue for many years as well as my political colleagues.”
“There are also thanks going to the NAS who, once resources have been found, have now addressed this issue,” Éamon Ó CuÃv said.
The National Ambulance Service is due to engage with local stakeholders on an appropriate location for the service, with a view towards having it in place by the end of the year.
The NAS carried out a study in 2020 on the appropriate service for the area, and had been consulting this year with the Connemara Ambulance Crisis Group on resolving the issue, which has had serious health implications for the region.
