The death of a 72-year-old Monaghan man from a heart attack as an ambulance was taking him to Cavan General Hospital this week has led to renewed calls for Monaghan Hospital to be put back on call as quickly as possible.
Mr Benny McCullagh suffered a heart attack at his home not far from Monaghan Hospital around lunchtime on Tuesday but the ambulance could not take him to his local hospital because it is off call.
Instead it took him to Cavan Hospital, more than 40km away, and he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Monaghan Hospital Community Alliance said last night the man was breathing when placed in the ambulance but a request to take him to Monaghan Hospital was refused.
Alliance spokesman Mr Peadar McMahon claimed if Mr McCullagh had been taken to Monaghan Hospital less than 200 metres from his home his chances of survival would have increased.
Local GP Dr Illona Duffy said if he had been taken to Monaghan Hospital he would have been given life-saving clot busting drugs that would have given him "a fighting chance".
"Treatment with these medications saves lives and while ambulance personnel are trained in rescuscitation they can't give medication," she said.
The North Eastern Health Board, in a statement, said its ambulance service responded to the call at 1.11 p.m., arrived at the man's house at 1.15 p.m. and arrived at Cavan Hospital at 1.56 p.m.
It was "satisfied that the emergency call was responded to in a prompt and skilled manner".
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation were carried out at the man's home and CPR continued en route to the hospital, it said.
"A full resuscitation team were waiting in A&E at Cavan General Hospital and carried out advanced cardiac life support. The patient was pronounced dead at Cavan General Hospital," it said.
"The ambulance service within the NEHB is staffed by highly skilled emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who follow standard operating procedures and are trained to respond to all acute care situations. All EMTs are trained in CPR and defibrillation and are certified annually," it added.
It offered its sympathies to the family of the dead man.
Mr McMahon said this case again showed how necessary it was to have Monaghan Hospital back on call as quickly as possible.
The Monaghan Community Hospital Alliance has been campaigning for over two years to have the hospital back on call. The health board is currently recruiting five junior doctors and hopes to have the hospital back on call before the end of the year.
"If the hospital had been back on call and this patient was taken to the hospital then at least he would have had a much better chance of survival," Mr McMahon claimed.
"It's a further indictment of the management of health services in the north-east when this situation can be allowed to happen," he added.
Health board management was also criticised in December 2002 when Ms Denise Livingstone from Emyvale was refused permission to give birth at Monaghan General Hospital, from which maternity services had been withdrawn, even though she was in an advanced stage of labour.
She was transported by ambulance to Cavan Hospital and en route gave birth to a premature baby girl who died shortly afterwards.