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01/07/2002
Ambulance fleet to receive £10m for improvements
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service looks set to receive nearly £10 million as part a Department of Health plan to improve its service and upgrade its aging fleet.
The announcement last week came at the publication of a document summarising the outcome of public consultation on an Implementation Plan for improving ambulance services.
The Department of Health’s Implementation Plan said the Ambulance Service needed £6 million of executive funds to purchase over 100 new vehicles and replace essential equipment and train staff.
The plan also calls for a further £3 million to be made available from executive programme funds to allow the introduction of Digital Trunk Radio, which will improve response times by establishing rapid response schemes in rural areas.
An additional £300,000 in the current year, the plan advises, will also enable the Ambulance Service to pilot a Medical Priority Dispatch System for the prioritisation of emergency calls.
“People expect and deserve a well equipped ambulance fleet, with highly trained and motivated staff, supported by a stable infrastructure," the Health Minister, Bairbre de Brún said last Friday.
"And there is general agreement that the Department’s Implementation Plan will achieve this,” she added.
“While the detailed proposals have been endorsed, the interest shown in the Ambulance Services Implementation Plan demonstrates the level of commitment which people have for their health and social services in general and the Ambulance Service in particular.”
However emphasising that significantly more investment was needed to fully modernise ambulance services Ms de Brún said: “I will continue to make every effort to find resources from within the health and social services budget and will also continue to argue strongly in the Executive the case for additional investment in ambulance services.
“Full implementation of this Plan will ultimately depend on our ability to secure resources for this vital service,” she added.
(AMcE)
The announcement last week came at the publication of a document summarising the outcome of public consultation on an Implementation Plan for improving ambulance services.
The Department of Health’s Implementation Plan said the Ambulance Service needed £6 million of executive funds to purchase over 100 new vehicles and replace essential equipment and train staff.
The plan also calls for a further £3 million to be made available from executive programme funds to allow the introduction of Digital Trunk Radio, which will improve response times by establishing rapid response schemes in rural areas.
An additional £300,000 in the current year, the plan advises, will also enable the Ambulance Service to pilot a Medical Priority Dispatch System for the prioritisation of emergency calls.
“People expect and deserve a well equipped ambulance fleet, with highly trained and motivated staff, supported by a stable infrastructure," the Health Minister, Bairbre de Brún said last Friday.
"And there is general agreement that the Department’s Implementation Plan will achieve this,” she added.
“While the detailed proposals have been endorsed, the interest shown in the Ambulance Services Implementation Plan demonstrates the level of commitment which people have for their health and social services in general and the Ambulance Service in particular.”
However emphasising that significantly more investment was needed to fully modernise ambulance services Ms de Brún said: “I will continue to make every effort to find resources from within the health and social services budget and will also continue to argue strongly in the Executive the case for additional investment in ambulance services.
“Full implementation of this Plan will ultimately depend on our ability to secure resources for this vital service,” she added.
(AMcE)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A mainly dry day with variable amounts of cloud and some bright or sunny intervals. Chance of the odd shower, especially in the south this afternoon. Warm across western counties. Maximum temperature 20 °C.Tonight:Some late sunshine this evening. Otherwise a cloudy night with patchy rain spreading west, becoming drier later on. Low and fog patches developing in the early hours. Minimum temperature 12 °C.
