Patient taken to hospital in Garda car due to lack of ambulances

The Health Minister says a “huge increase” in emergency calls since February has contributed to delays in ambulance response times to 999 calls.

As part of a Sinn Fein motion on the National Ambulance Service, the Dail heard last night of the case that a patient was brought to Letterkenny University Hospital in a Garda car last month because no ambulance was available.

It’s understood that the Donegal ambulance was tasked to Tipperary and another tasked to Belmullet in Mayo and therefore none were available locally for dispatch.

Donegal Deputy Thomas Pringle says there are serious issues with the service in the county with fears also escalating about the future of the base in Lifford:

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