Debate contribution: Ambulance Handovers

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 24 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

24 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Ambulance Handovers

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4864674

Read the official Assembly record

Text

My remarks on ambulance handovers will focus on the Northern Trust, particularly on events on 21 December 2024. On that evening, 14 ambulances were servicing the largest trust, being dispatched to locations in Coleraine, Ballymena, Antrim, Magherafelt, Larne, Carrickfergus and Whiteabbey. On that day, 120 working hours were lost because ambulances were sitting outside EDs. That accounted for a quarter of the entire service capacity for that trust. Allow me to cite the impact of delays on the Darragh family in my constituency. At 7.05 pm, Willy, who had previous heart problems, took chest pains whilst in his house just outside Cullybackey. His wife, Caroline, rang 999 and was told that no ambulances were available and that she needed to take him to the Antrim ED, which was approximately 25 minutes away. Willy was assigned as a category 2 call, as he was suspected of having a heart attack and was breathing. Whilst travelling to Antrim, Willy's condition deteriorated, and he had a cardiac arrest. Caroline had to find somewhere to pull over and to get help from a passing driver, as she could not get her husband out of the car on her own to start CPR. Caroline called 999 again at 7.35 pm, and an ambulance arrived at 7.40 pm, because that call was classed as category 1, as Willy was now not breathing. Sadly, Willy passed away, lying in a wet lay-by 10 minutes from the hospital. Ms Ennis asked what happens if a patient takes a heart attack on a trolley in a hospital, but what happens to a patient who is in a car and takes a heart attack on his way to hospital? Last Wednesday night, I attended a meeting with the Darragh family to seek answers from the Ambulance Service. We were told that there is a target time for category 1 calls — eight minutes — but that the average response time on that day was 14 minutes and 43 seconds. A category 2 call has a target time of 18 minutes but that the average response time on that day was 60 minutes. Crucially for that family, we were also told that a category 2 call is not assigned to a crew that is in the final hour of its shift. Members, that is as a result of the action short of strike that Unite and NIPSA are taking over the waiting times outside EDs that is causing staff not to finish within a reasonable time at the end of their shift. What were the 14 operational ambulances doing at 7.05 pm? Coleraine had two ambulances. One of them was sitting outside Antrim ED for five hours and 30 minutes, while the other was parked up in the station and due to be manned by only one person from 4.00 pm. It could respond to category 1 calls only. Ballymena had four ambulances. Two were sitting outside the ED for 50 minutes and four hours and 26 minutes respectively. One was at the scene of a call, while the fourth ambulance was sitting in the station. Antrim had two ambulances. Both were sitting outside the ED for six hours and 15 minutes and five hours and 15 minutes respectively. Magherafelt had two ambulances, both of which were sitting in the dispatch area. Larne had one ambulance, which was also parked in the dispatch area. Carrickfergus had two ambulances. One was at the scene of a call, while the other was parked up in the dispatch area. Whiteabbey had one ambulance, which was outside the ED for six hours and four minutes. We have already been told that 120 hours were lost in that single day owing to turnaround times at EDs, but how many of us realised that, in the final hour of a shift, because of the current union action, no ambulances are assigned? How many hours are being lost each day as a result of strike action by the unions? When pressed specifically on whether the ambulance crew that was sitting in the Ballymena dispatch area at the time of the first call were members of a union, the Ambulance Service could not tell us, as it does not know and does not ask its staff. To make matters worse, any crews in an ambulance dispatch area during the final hour of their shift are not even made aware that a category 2 call has come in. The current service is therefore not fit for purpose, and people are dying as a result. The system has serious issues, and one of them is the unions' approach, which needs to change and change today.

774 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:11 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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