THE HEALTH SERVICE Executive (HSE) West has said that it does not believe a shortage of ambulance cover was an issue in relation to the death of a woman in Co Galway two years ago.
It was responding to a call by west Galway coroner Dr Ciarán McLoughlin for it to examine ambulance provision in the city and county.
An inquest into the death of Mary Healion Shelly found that she had waited almost five hours for an ambulance before being taken to hospital when she became ill at a nursing home in Kilkerrin, Co Galway, in June 2006.
Dr McLoughlin expressed concern that only two ambulance crews - who carry just one patient each - serve an area that covers the entire city and a large part of the county.
Mrs Healion Shelly (58), a Connacht Tribune columnist who lived in Newbridge, Co Galway, had a lengthy clinical history, and was convalescing in St Francis Nursing Home, Kilkerrin, when she became ill on June 3rd, 2006.
The inquest heard that a GP with the Westdoc co-operative assessed her late in the afternoon and advised she be admitted to hospital. She deteriorated rapidly while waiting for the ambulance, and the nurse on duty attempted to make contact with the Westdoc GP again, but was told he was attending to another emergency. A further call was made at approximately 8.30pm to ambulance control. The ambulance finally arrived at about 10pm.
The patient suffered a cardiac arrest en route to University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) and was pronounced dead at 11.25pm. At the inquest her daughter, Erris, questioned why the ambulance had taken so long to arrive, and asked whether its coming sooner would have made a difference to her mother's chances.
Colleen Higgins, UCHG ambulance controller, said that, with the exception of the period between 1pm and 4pm - when there are three crews on duty - there are only two ambulances available to cover an area as far north-east as Kilkerrin and as far south as Gort.
She said that on the day in question resources were further stretched, and this remained the case two years later.
Consultant pathologist, Dr Gabriel Mortimer, who carried out the post mortem examination, concluded that Mrs Healion Shelly had died of pneumonia. "It is difficult to say if she would have survived , but she would have been made less uncomfortable and would have been less distressed," he said.
The coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence. However, he said that this case highlighted a very serious problem for the people of Galway, and even those passing through. "For a person to wait five hours for an ambulance is probably too long," Dr McLoughlin said.
He called on HSE chief executive Dr Brendan Drumm to re-assess the situation himself and "come and face the people of Galway".
The HSE West said one out-of-hours ambulance was stationed in Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Carraroe and Clifden, Co Galway, while there were two in Galway city. An ambulance was also available in Roscommon. The ambulance control relied on information from doctors in relation to assessing priority, a spokeswoman said.