AQW 37019/11-15

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 06/10/2014
Answered On Date: 21/10/2014
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what steps his Department is taking to assist the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to meet their target of responding to an average of 72.5 per cent of ‘Category A’ calls.

Answer:

My Department’s cumulative target is that by March 2015, 72.5% of Category A (life threatening) calls should be responded to within 8 minutes, with a minimum of 67.5% in each Local Commissioning Group area. I am looking to the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Trust (NIAS) to work to ensure that this target is achieved.

The HSCB has been working closely with NIAS to secure improvements in its Category A response times. I am advised that NIAS is recruiting additional personnel to fill existing vacancies to provide greater confidence of provision of ambulance cover and reduce reliance on overtime, which will enable NIAS to target available resources to improve performance. The HSCB has worked with NIAS in relation to emerging pressures as a consequence of emergency department changes, including the allocation of additional funding; the appointment of Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers in four of the major emergency departments to work with the emergency department staff to expedite and improve ambulance turnaround times; and development of a NIAS Dashboard of indicators to manage the flow of ambulance-borne activity.