Dublin officials and HSE announce ambulance call out changes
A shake-up of ambulance call out system has been announced for Dublin.
It follows the recent controversy over a patient who was forced to wait three and a half hours for paramedics to arrive.
In the wake of the controversy over ambulance response times in Dublin a HIQA report highlighted the urgent need for greater cooperation between the agencies involved.
Agreement has now been reached between the HSE and the chief executives of the four Dublin local authorities on changes designed to reduce response times to 999 calls.
Under the changes the National Ambulance Service Emergency Operations Centre in Tallaght will assume responsibility for taking calls and dispatching the emergency ambulances of both the N.A.S and Dublin Fire Brigade.
The HSE and Dublin City Council have now established a working group to bring about the changes over the next six months.
