The ambulance providing back-up to the ambulance base in Ballinasloe is to be moved a further 40 minutes away from the town from February 1, according to local TD Denis Naughten.
“At present when the only 24 hour a day, seven day a week ambulance based in Ballinasloe has to respond to an emergency, a back-up ambulance is normally deployed from the ambulance base in Roscommon Town to provide cover,” Deputy Naughten said. “However, from February 1 this ‘back-up ambulance’ will be instead diverted to Loughglynn on the Mayo/Roscommon border, a further 40 minutes away from the town of Ballinasloe.
“The difficulty with this move is that there are no spare ambulances available in the area and all we are doing is spreading an already over-stretched service even further. This is just not good enough and it will put local lives at risk.
“While this move will be of benefit to the catchment of Castlebar hospital, it is undermining the safety of people in many parts of East Galway and County Roscommon, particularly with the lack of an emergency stroke service and out-of-hours cardiac service at Portiuncula Hospital.”
