Ambulance waiting times across the county are hitting an average of 20 minutes – over double what they should be.
That’s according to the latest figures from a HSE commissioned report.
Oughterard, Headford, Tuam, Ballinrobe, Gort, Portumna, Glenamaddy and many other areas across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon are located too far away for ambulances to reach critical patients on time.
The report, as seen by The Irish Times, was issued by UK consultancy firm Lightfoot Solutions after a number of problems with response times to calls were lodged.
It established that the National Ambulance Service needs an extra 750 staff and 250 ambulances to respond to emergencies on time.
Yet even with those resources, they would still be unable to meet specific targets due to poor access to rural parts of Ireland.
The target for life-threatening calls and emergencies is currently set at eight minutes by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
Areas in Galway, Roscommon and Mayo are at particular risk of delays because ambulance depots are located too far away to reach the critical target.
No more than 54.4 per cent – just over half – of a total of 445,356 people in this area could be reached on time. That leaves over 203,000 at risk based on HIQA standards.
Ten ambulance depots serve the region, and a radius of 14 kilometres driven at 100 km per hour is the assumed requirement to reach them within the allocated time frame.
The only electoral divisions within the three counties to reach that limit are Clifden, Carraroe, Galway, Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Roscommon, Boyle, Castlebar and a small portion of Belmullet – ten areas in total.
That leaves a staggering nineteen key areas in the region lying outside of the 14 km radius.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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