LOCAL campaigners are ‘deeply concerned’ about emergency ambulance response times in Fermanagh and the wider local Trust area, with some patients waiting almost an hour in life-threatening situations.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) response to Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has revealed worrying statistics for emergency response times over the past year, with fears the removal of emergency general surgery (EGS) from the SWAH is putting added pressure on the life-saving service.
Category 1 emergencies involve the most critical, life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrests, patients not breathing, unconscious individuals, and severe allergic reactions. Of these calls, only 140 met the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) target, while 224 did not, between April 1, 2024, and April 1, 2025.
The target response time is eight minutes for this category, but the longest recorded wait was nearly one hour. In one case, an ambulance traveled from over 80 miles away to attend a Category 1 emergency, underscoring serious logistical challenges in rural areas like Fermanagh.
Category 2 emergencies include serious but not immediately life-threatening cases such as suspected strokes, chest pain, seizures, and major trauma. For these, 1,043 calls met the KPI target, while 1,815 did not, meaning only 36.5 percent met the targeted response time.
NIAS acknowledged the pressure caused by surgical service changes in a recent response to the ‘Herald.
“The changes to surgical provision within the Western Trust created additional need for inter-facility transfers to Altnagelvin. Any additional activity places added pressure on service delivery,” said a NIAS spokesperson.
SOAS has said the latest figures are “deeply concerning.”
“This isn’t just data, it reflects real patients, real families, and puts immense pressure on paramedics since the removal of emergency general surgery,” said SOAS spokesperson Helen Hamill.
Ms Hamill urged urgent action to support both patients and paramedics who work tirelessly under these difficult conditions.
“Save Our Acute Services is deeply concerned about patient safety and staff wellbeing as Fermanagh remains without emergency surgical cover,” said Hamill.
“We urge the Department of Health to act urgently, back our 20-step roadmap, and reinstate surgical consultants instead of overburdening already stretched ambulance services.”
For more on this story see next week’s Fermanagh Herald.