Negotiations yield three new paramedics for Ennistymon

The appointment of three new paramedics to the Ennistymon Ambulance Station will reduce the level of the station’s on-call hours from 96 to 12 a week, The Clare Champion has learned.

Extra resources were secured for the Ennistymon Ambulance Station recently following negotiations between SIPTU and the Mid-West Health Service Executive (HSE) in the wake of the reconfiguration of acute hospital services in the Mid-West.
The union obtained the new posts following concern about the ability of the Clare Ambulance Service to cope with the loss of nighttime casualty services in Ennis and Nenagh hospitals last April.
SIPTU representative, Tony Kenny, confirmed the aim of the union was to substantially reduce and eventually eliminate on-call in all the outlying ambulance stations in Clare.
Welcoming this positive development, Minister of State, Tony Killeen said the move would further enhance the level of 24/7 cover provided by the Ennistymon Ambulance Station.
“The additional staff with the reduction of on call hours will greatly improve response times to emergencies throughout the greater North Clare region,” he said.
The Minister of State noted that all ambulance staff in Clare were trained to paramedic level while a number of personnel have recently been trained to advanced paramedic level.
“Advanced paramedics have a greater knowledge of basic science, can use more advanced interventions and administer a wider range of medications”, he concluded.
Mr Kenny expressed concern last April about the high levels of on call hours in some Clare stations such as Ennistymon where up to 180 hours a week were being covered by ambulance personnel outside of the station.
“Without the provision of 24-hour crews to cope with the loss of night time casualty services in Ennis hospital, I have serious concerns for the safety of members and ultimately patients,” he said.
He made his comments after a Clare Champion investigation revealed overtime payments totalling €506,112 were paid for 37 rostered Clare paramedics in 2008.
In fact, the overtime bill for Clare paramedics was the highest in the Mid-West and would pay for the cost of hiring at least eight extra ambulance personnel in the county.