Daniel Connolly: Ambulance Waiting Times & Lack of services are Costing the Very Lives They should be Saving
Speaking on the tragic death of a young woman in Newry, Aontú Candidate for Newry Armagh, Daniel Connolly, said it is disgraceful that ambulance waiting times and the lack of services are costing the very lives they should be saving.
Connolly: “Our prayers and condolences to the family and loved ones of this young woman, who lost her life whilst waiting for ambulance. Newry has been dangerously underserved in terms of ambulance services for too long, and these are the devastating consequences. Of the 10 services meant to cover the area on Saturday, 80% were unavailable or absent through illness. Of the two crews available to cover the area, they were soon tied up at Craigavon Area Hospital. An ambulance crew had to be scrambled from Belfast to delay with this emergency. It took 45 minutes for them to arrive, double the recommended response time – simply too long.”
“We cannot blame the efforts of ambulance personnel, the fundamental issues at the heart of this tragedy is the under-resourcing of ambulance services in Newry. Stormont had already cut 800 plus beds from our Health Service before the pandemic, and gutted our healthcare capacity”
