Swords Ambulance service saves lives and must be kept

Date: 17/01/2011
Posted by: Darragh

I am contacting the chief executive of the HSE again in relation to the Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Service in Swords. There are now just two weeks left to ensure this vital service is retained and lives continued to be saved.

The uncertainty that continues to surround the future of this service must be resolved as a matter of urgency. There is just two weeks left on the time period given for discussions between the HSE and Dublin City Council and I am not at all satisfied that there has been no public assurance to date on the future of Swords Ambulance Service.

The service responded to around 4,500 calls in Swords, Malahide and surrounding areas during last year. This service literally saves lives every day and the questions now hanging over it must be resolved.

There are great concerns among those working in the service and my constituents and it is up to the HSE and Dublin City Council to now state clearly how the service will be funded into the future.

I previously raised this issue with the HSE chief executive Cathal Magee at the Public Accounts Committee and I expressed to Mr. Magee my concerns about the service and the need for the HSE to prioritise frontline services. I am very firmly of the view that the HSE has the funding to secure this service and it should be retained.