SAVE YOUGHAL AMBULANCE PROTEST ILLUSTRATES REALITY
By Christy Parker   

The Save Youghal Ambulance Group’s latest protest against the HSE ‘s proposed changes to the east Cork ambulance service included dramatic simulations of a fatal car accident and a resuscitation scene.

Those attending last Saturday’s demonstration adjacent to the Community Hospital, witnessed the surreal replication of a young man, his leg askew and near severed, ‘blood’ pouring from his head while his female passenger lay motionless and bloodied in the wreckage of their grey Vauxhall.  Paramedics fought desperately to resuscitate a third occupant on the grass verge while a blue blanket covering all but a hand and protruding shoes of a fourth unfortunate indicated that any medical assistance would sadly come too late.

A placard towering over the wrecked car asked, “Will we die waiting?” in reference to the HSE’s planned reconfiguration of the ambulance service. Other placards haunting the grisly scene touted sentiments such as, “HSE makes Cuts –We Bleed” and “Employee of the Year –the Grim Reaper.”

Sinn Féin TD for East Cork Sandra McLellan, Youghal Mayor Eoin Coyne and Youghal Town Councillors Michelle Hennessy, Eoin Flanagan, Mary Linehan-Foley, Michael Beecher and Tara O’Connell, who is also Chairwoman of the Save Youghal Ambulance group, were amongst those who braved the icy midday wind.

The protest comes as the HSE’s prepares to begin implementing changes to the Cork & Kerry ambulance system in east and north Cork early in 2012. The plans include replacing overnight on-call paramedics and Youghal’s fixed base ambulance with a ‘roaming’ first responder paramedic car and a non-emergency vehicle, along with 33% reduction in ambulances in the Cork/Kerry region.

Critics fear emergency ambulances will have long distances to travel and are also unhappy with the Executive’s plans to man rural first responder vehicles with volunteers trained in defibrillator use, a cost-reducing measure that would also reach  HIQA targets for responding to cardiac incidents.

United message

Labour Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock’s has called for the plans to be postponed, labelling them dangerous to the public as matters stand. Deputy Sherlock says there are many details yet to be adequately processed, “particularly in relation to rural communities,” adding that changes “should be phased in on a trial basis first.”

Meanwhile Deputy McLellan said Saturday’s protest “sends a strong, clear message of ‘hands off our ambulance’ to the government, Health Minister Dr. James O’Reilly and the HSE.” The TD added, “From the first meeting in the Walter Raleigh last summer, we all agreed that this would be a non-political campaign, that everyone would work together, GP’s committee members, politicians and the public and we have to keep that work going.”

Mayor Coyne described the simulations as “a sign of what could become a reality if the cuts are made to our ambulance service. The mayor said he was not particularly in favour of on-call as it stands but would want 24-hour on duty service ideally.

Cllr O’Connell described on -call as “a separate issue within the ambulance service, involving unions and funding and so on. We are simply citizens fighting to keep our ambulance.”

All three speakers are equally united in welcoming first responders “if fully trained to advanced paramedic standards,” as Deputy McLellan put it, “but only in addition to the present ambulance service and not instead of. A rapid respond vehicle manned by a paramedic is not the same as an ambulance manned by an advanced. Obviously we want to be sure that everybody gets the correct proper training to reach advanced paramedic levels,” she concluded.

Local protestor Bernard Leamy, perhaps illustrated the essence of the campaign most poignantly of all as he recalled a recent and first-hand experience. “My son Shane, who is 21, was taken very ill last Saturday and we had to call the Youghal ambulance at 2.45 am. It arrived within 15 minutes. Under the HSE changes it might take an hour to arrive but last week, thanks to the Youghal ambulance, he was in hospital within that hour.”

Meeting

Meanwhile, last week the HSE agreed to meet a delegation consisting of Youghal doctor Declan Matthews, Dr Bertie Daly of Newmarket, North Cork  and Cllr O’Connell to discuss their concerns. The meeting will be held in Naas on Tuesday Dec 20th. “The HSE is not au fait with the demands and conditions pertinent to rural areas and we will be stressing that this untested system could cost lives,” says the councillor.

Related Video:

Strength In Numbers Appeal For Save Youghal Ambulance Protest. – By Christy Parker

THE SAVE YOUGHAL AMBULANCE CAMPAIGN continues on Saturday next (17th December 2011) with a major demonstration against the proposed alteration to ambulance services in the east Cork region. The protest is scheduled for the Community Hospital, beginning at noon and organisers are appealing for a large turnout. .

In recent weeks The HSE has reaffirmed its intention to introduce immense changes to the ambulance system across Cork and Kerry, beginning with east and north Cork early in 2012. The plans are centred on replacing on-call paramedics overnight and a fixed-base daytime ambulance service with a first responder paramedic car, backed up in some rural areas, such as east Cork, by ‘roaming’ ambulance response crews. These crews may well have to travel lengthy distances when summoned.

Roaming

The roaming vehicles will comprise six ambulances removed from the 18-strong fleet that presently serves Cork and Kerry. The HSE claims that deploying these vehicles will cost less than 50% of the €200,000 it apparently costs to operate a ‘normal’ ambulance.

It has now also emerged that the first response vehicles –which will not be allowed to transport patients- will be largely crewed by “hundreds of volunteers”  trained in CPR and related care practices. The Executive believes this manoeuvre will enable the new system to meet Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) requirements for responding to call-outs.

Throughout, the HSE insists that the quality of service will not decline and, on the contrary, will improve at a reduced cost. Even without the HSE’s legacy of mistakes and failings, very many people remain sceptical of this view. Youghal GP’s have said it looks promising on paper but they remain unconvinced of its viability in practice as it currently stands.

Postponement call

Labour Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock, has called for the plans to be postponed, labelling them dangerous to the public as matters stand. Deputy Sherlock, who is also chairman of Mallow Hospital Action Committee, echoes the view that there are many details yet to be adequately processed, “particularly in relation to rural communities.” He adds, “It should be phased in on a trial basis first.”

Next Saturday’s protest marks the fourth public show of rejection against the proposals, following a public meeting and two street protest marches last August. Save Youghal Ambulance spokeswoman and Youghal Labour Town Councillor Tara O’Connell strongly urges the people of east Cork and indeed west Waterford also, to unite in strength on Saturday.

Enactments

The demonstration will include enactment of accident scenes and CPR demonstrations by way of exemplifying the crucial role of ambulance response times and procedure and the heavy demand on energy and stamina that a volunteer can encounter when administering CPR while an ambulance is en route. She encourages those attending Saturday’s event to bring banners and placards. A loud voice would also contribute towards conveying the message of rejection.

Save Youghal Ambulance Protest Demonstration is scheduled from noon to 2 pm at Youghal Community Hospital, Cork Hill.

THE Minister of State for research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock, has said the HSE’s imminent ambulance changes for Cork and Kerry must be postponed.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, after senior health service officials revealed controversial plans to drastically alter how care is delivered by next month, the Labour TD said the move was dangerous to the public.

Read more: Click Here

A major protest is planned for Saturday next at Youghal Community Hospital. The protest is against the HSE’s proposed “reconfiguration” of the East Cork Ambulance Service. Beginning at midday on Saturday at the Community Hospital, continuing until 2 pm, the protest will feature demonstrations of real life accident scenes and it will show how CPR can be administered, showing how long a patient might last . Members of the public will have an opportunity to voice their concerns about the proposed changes at this protest. Banners and placards are encouraged at the demonstration at Youghal Community Hospital this Saturday from midday.

THE HEALTH Service Executive yesterday moved to reassure people that proposed changes in ambulance arrangements in Cork and Kerry will lead to a better service for the public. This came amid fears reorganisation will lead to a downgrading in some areas.Robert Morton, director of the HSE National Ambulance Service, said the move from the system of on-duty and on-call to a system where staff will be rostered solely on an on-duty basis will result in an improved service.

Click here for more on this story

“Ireland needs someone with experience as President. Gay Mitchell MEP was a TD for 26 years and an MEP for seven. I believe that he has the experience and the international contacts that we need to help bring jobs to this country.

“For too long, we have forgotten what we were good at and what we do well. Agriculture is the star of this economy at the moment and a major creator of jobs. A big part of his role as President would be to help open up new markets and develop existing ones, so that more people can find work in this vital area.

“Speaking at the national launch of his presidential campaign last week, Gay Mitchell described his proposals to lead the charge in promoting mental health, especially for young people. He wants to work with voluntary groups who do important work in the area of mental health. This generation is under great pressure, and we’ve seen too many people take their own lives. It’s time for us to tackle this in a meaningful way.

“I am asking all my supporters to vote for Gay Mitchell as I believe that he is the best person to be President of Ireland.”

THE FIGHT to save Youghal ambulance seems to have entered calmer waters following an on-going series of meetings between the HSE, regional GPs, TD’s councillors and the Save Youghal Ambulance group.

To recap, the HSE’s work reform proposes the abolition of on-call practice and Youghal ambulance replaced with an advanced paramedic first responder service, with two ‘roaming’ emergency-only ambulances  patrolling the east Cork area and an intermediary care vehicle for Cork north and east based initially in Mallow. The first responder would not have a hospital transport mandate. Thousands of people protested the proposals in Youghal last summer.

The protests sparked consultations between vested parties, resulting in a broader understanding on both sides.

It is now known that up to 90% of calls to Youghal ambulance are deemed ‘non-emergency.’ The HSE proposes to reserve ambulance deployment exclusively for emergencies and intend to deploy ‘intermediate care vehicles’ to conduct non-emergency functions.

Fine Gael Cork County and Youghal Town Councillor Barbara Murray, who sits on the Regional Health Forum, says, “The first responders would have advanced medical provisions and staff and effectively bring A&E to the patient, while the intermediate care vehicles would conduct non-emergency duties, such as pre-arranged patient transfers, etc.”

The system would revolve around GPS navigation technology, “with a Dublin-based control centre able to pinpoint at any time the exact location each medical unit in the area at any given time,” explains Cllr Murray. “The control centre would receive the initial call and decide on the most appropriate response from the information given. The first responder would also assess the situation on arrival.”

Under Phase 1, the HSE hopes to deploy the intermediate care vehicles to Mallow and Bantry in early 2012. Mallow will service east Cork until Phase 2 eventually sees a similar vehicle deployed in Cork city to serve the region. Meanwhile Youghal is expected to retain its ambulance base and current practice for at least 18 months as trade union issues are resolved.

Anxieties

There is concern in Youghal over this transition period. Local GP Declan Matthews says, “The proposals look very good on paper, but there are huge anxieties amongst doctors over a perceived lag time of some years between Phase 1 and Phases 2 and then 3. It means we would still have no proper cover when our ambulance is out of town.” He adds that the issue is soon to be discussed between doctors in east and north Cork and Mallow.

Echoing those concerns, spokesman for the Save Youghal Ambulance group Jim Flanagan says, “It may -or may not- be ok in the long term but we will continue to fight for our ambulance service here in the short term at least.”

Statement from Save Youghal Ambulance group:

‘To date we the above, with the support of local communities, TD’s, county and town councillors and GP’s have been opposed to the proposal from the HSE to remove the ambulance service from Youghal and surrounding areas.

The position to date is that though it may appear that we have been silent. Indeed, the opposite is true.

Since our first public meeting and subsequent protests, there have been a number of meetings between the HSE and all of the above mentioned.

The updated position is that further meetings are to take place and while the general feeling with the GPs is that the proposals put forward by the HSE look very good in the long term, Youghal and the surrounding areas could not be without an ambulance in the short term.

We will continue to fight for our ambulance service with the help of all the above and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our TDs, county councillors, town councillors, GPs and indeed the general public for all of your support so far to retain our ambulance service.

Signed: Jim Flanagan, PRO.

A DELEGATION representing the Save Youghal Ambulance service met with the H.S.E. on Friday the 19th of August. The Delegation consisted of Minister of State Sean Sherlock, East Cork T.D.s David Stanton and Sandra Mclellan, Cork County Councillor Barbara Murray. 2 local Doctors Mayor of Youghal Eoin Coyne and A member of the Save Youghal Ambulance Committee.

The Delegates were shown a presentation outlining the H.S.E s future plans for the East Cork and West Waterford area. All attendees then entered into a very open and frank discussion which both sides agreed was very informative. Delegates reported that there are still a lot of issues that have to be ironed out and the H.S.E have now agreed to meet with all doctors in the areas affected in the coming weeks to address their concerns.

Save Youghal Ambulance Committee are very pleased with this progress, however  feel that there is a lot more work to be done by the H.S.E to appease the concerns of the committee and the public on this issue. this is only the first step and on a long road and we will be keeping a very close eye on developments before deciding what future action needs to be taken.

Tara O’Connell
Chairperson, Save Youghal Ambulance Committee

 

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Stanton Pleased with Youghal Ambulance Talks

CORK EAST FINE GAEL TD, DAVID STANTON has said that the meeting which he arranged regarding Youghal ambulance which took place today with senior officials of the National Ambulance Service, public representatives, some GPs from Youghal was very constructive and informative for both sides. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State Sean Sherlock, Sandra McLellan TD, Cllr Barbara Murray and the Mayor of Youghal, Cllr Eoin Coyne.

Deep concern and unease has been expressed in Youghal and surrounding areas at reports that the ambulance service in the area would be downgraded.

“We had the opportunity today to express these concerns at the highest level and we received a full briefing from the HSE on their plans and changes that are being envisaged.

“There is certainly a need to ensure that the best possible and most appropriate emergency service is available. I welcome the fact that the HSE have promised to engage fully with local GPs and public representatives.

“Both sides today learned a lot from the engagement and I would hope that the discussion on the very complex issues involved will result in an improved service in the long run.

“There will be further meetings and engagement on this very important issue.

Progress In Youghal Over Ambulance Issue – H.S.E. agrees to meet with campaigners.

THE CAMPAIGN GROUP in East Cork who want to stop the H.S.E downgrading an ambulance to a rapid response car, say they’ve made some progress. The executive has agreed to meet with, the “Save Youghal Ambulance Committee” in the coming weeks to discuss the downgrade, which is scheduled for next month. It follows a large public meeting and two street protests , which were well attended. Jim Flanagan, P.R.O. of the “Save Youghal Ambulance Commitee” says , meeting the H.S.E is a first step in the right direction.