No cuts to Ambulance Service - McGimpsey

Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey said that there are no plans to cut funding for ambulance services.

In fact, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) is to benefit from an extra £12million investment over the next three years.

The Minister said: “This significant investment will enable the service to modernise, to respond more quickly to emergency calls and to help provide life-saving services to patients who need it. In addition, further investment of £5million in the ambulance fleet and equipment will permit the replacement of around 20 vehicles per year.

“Over the next three years, measures will be put in place across the Health and Social Care service, including ambulance services, to improve efficiency. I have approved the proposals for NIAS for year one, 2008/09, but I have yet to see and consider their proposals for the subsequent years. However, I must stress that even after these efficiencies have been achieved, it should be noted that there will be a net increase in investment in ambulance services.

“One specific proposal for 2008/09 will see increased numbers of Rapid Response Vehicles which will play a valuable role in responding to emergencies and stabilising patients who may be in potentially life-threatening situations.”

The NIAS has been asked to identify realistic proposals on how they will deliver these savings without impacting on services to patients. It is important to note that the performance of the NIAS has improved significantly within the past year with 70% of calls being responded to within 8 minutes during April and May 2008, compared to just 55% in April 2007.

Notes to Editors:

1. This year alone, an additional £2.5million will be put into ambulance services, followed by a further £4million in 2009/10 and another £5.6million in 2010/11.
2. The Executive has agreed that all Departments should produce 3% efficiency savings per annum over the next three years to allow additional resources to be recycled to front line services. Individual organisations have been asked to contribute to this target. NIAS has therefore been set targets of £1.2million in 2008/09, /£2.7million in 2009/10 and /£4.4million in 2010/11 across the CSR period. Even after these efficiencies have been achieved, it should be noted that there will be a net investment in ambulance services.
3. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service plays a vital part in the care and treatment of patient. The Department is keen to support them in that role and, in particular to take full advantage of new technologies and other advances to make the service as effective and efficient as possible. For example, earlier this year ambulances were equipped with an Automated Vehicle Location System which, when fully operational, will increase the flexibility of the service to respond to calls.
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