831. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has conducted any internal analysis of the relationship between extended ambulance response times and patient outcomes, including morbidity or mortality; and if so, to provide details. [28164/26]
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
Browse the questions
Showing questions asked by Ken O'Flynn under the heading Ambulance Service.
267 questions match, newest first.
832. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of time-based review thresholds in the National Ambulance Service has been subject to audit, risk assessment, or governance review since 2020. [28166/26]
836. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total annual expenditure incurred by the HSE on private ambulance services in each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2026. [28176/26]
837. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of patient transfers carried out by private ambulance providers on behalf of the HSE in each of the years 2020 to date in 2026. [28177/26]
838. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the proportion of total non-emergency patient transport activity carried out by private ambulance providers compared to the National Ambulance Service in each of the years 2020 to date in 2026. [28178/26]
839. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the primary reasons private ambulance services are utilised by the HSE, including whether due to capacity constraints within the National Ambulance Service. [28179/26]
840. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any value-for-money analysis has been conducted comparing the cost of private ambulance provision versus expanding publicly operated ambulance capacity. [28180/26]
841. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has a strategic plan to reduce reliance on private ambulance providers and increase in-house capacity, and if so, to outline the timeline and targets. [28181/26]
3117. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of Critical Care Ambulances on a 24-7 basis that are based in Cork as of 1 April 2026; and if she will provide the same figures as of 1 April 2022, in tabular form. [25976/26]
2127. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any written policy guidance or governance framework defining what constitutes an unacceptable response time for life-threatening emergency ambulance calls, including clinical status 1 purple or red calls; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20321/26]
2128. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has formally approved or endorsed the current key performance indicator framework used by the National Ambulance Service in relation to emergency response times; the date on which that framework was last reviewed by her Department; and whether consideration has been given to introducing a maximum response time threshold for life-threatening…
2129. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of a defined maximum response time threshold for life-threatening emergency ambulance calls has been assessed by her Department as a governance or patient safety risk; and whether any such assessment has been recorded within the Department’s risk management framework. [20323/26]
2130. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has required the Health Service Executive to provide any analysis of emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes for clinical status 1 purple or red calls; whether such analysis has been reviewed at Departmental level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20324/26]
2131. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has considered whether delays exceeding 60 minutes in response to life-threatening emergency calls should automatically trigger review under the HSE Incident Management Framework; and if so, the outcome of that consideration. [20325/26]
2132. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health receives any routine reporting from the Health Service Executive regarding extreme outlier emergency ambulance response times, including delays exceeding 60 minutes for life-threatening emergencies; the format in which such information is reported; and whether this information forms part of Departmental oversight of patient safety…
2133. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health Enterprise Risk Management Framework currently identifies prolonged emergency ambulance response times as a strategic or operational risk; and if so, the risk rating assigned and the mitigation measures identified. [20327/26]
2134. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken or commissioned any review since 2020 examining the relationship between prolonged ambulance response times and patient outcomes in Ireland; and if so, the title and date of any such review. [20328/26]
2135. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has considered the introduction of national reporting requirements for extreme ambulance response delays for life-threatening emergencies in order to strengthen transparency and patient safety oversight. [20329/26]
2136. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the governance arrangements between her Department and the Health Service Executive require the HSE to notify the Department where systemic patterns of prolonged ambulance response delays emerge; and if so, the mechanism through which such notification occurs. [20330/26]
2138. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved, endorsed or accepted a policy position that emergency ambulance response delays exceeding 60 minutes in life-threatening clinical status 1 purple or red calls do not automatically constitute patient safety incidents requiring review under the HSE Incident Management Framework; and if such a policy position exists, to provide t…
18. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that emergency ambulance responses to clinical status 1 purple and red calls exceeding 60 minutes represent a patient safety failure; when she first became aware that such extreme delays are not included in published National Ambulance Service performance indicators; whether she considers a system acceptable in which more than half of red life-t…
532. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether it is Departmental policy that an ambulance response exceeding 60 minutes to a clinical status 1 purple or red emergency call does not, of itself, constitute a notifiable patient safety incident under the HSE Incident Management Framework; the policy basis for that position; and whether she will review that policy in the context of her statutory responsibi…
533. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has, since 1 January 2023, received any aggregated report, briefing, risk register entry, or governance submission identifying delayed ambulance response as a contributory factor in patient harm or adverse outcomes; the number of such instances recorded; and whether her Department has conducted any formal policy review arising from those fin…
534. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives regional disaggregated performance data for clinical status 1 purple and red emergency calls as part of the annual Service Plan governance framework; whether her Department undertakes structured comparative analysis of response performance between HSE regions; and the specific policy directives issued by her since 2023 to address id…
535. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE has undertaken any analysis of mortality, morbidity, or adverse clinical outcomes for clinical status 1 Purple or Red emergency calls stratified by response time bands (0–19 minutes, 20–30 minutes, 31–45 minutes, 46–60 minutes, and over 60 minutes) during the period 2023 to date; if so, to provide details of the findings; and if n…