LOCAL campaigners are ‘deeply concerned’ about emergency ambulance response times in the Fermanagh area, with some patients waiting almost an hour in life-threatening situations.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) response to (SOAS) from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has revealed worrying statistics for emergency response times over the past year in the Fermanagh and wider local area.
The deepest concern surrounds Category 1 emergencies, which involve the most critical, life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrests, patients not breathing, unconscious individuals, and severe allergic reactions.
Of these calls, between April 1, 2024, and April 1, 2025, only 140 met the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) target, while 224 did not.
This means 36.5 per-cent of the most urgent calls were met.
The target response time is eight minutes, but the longest recorded wait was nearly one hour. In one extreme case, an ambulance traveled over 80 miles to attend a Category 1 emergency, underscoring serious logistical challenges in rural areas.
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% met the targeted response time.
Across all categories, including less urgent calls (Categories 3 and 4) nearly half of all ambulance calls were delayed beyond acceptable limits.
The Western Health and Social Care Trust reported an average of ten hospital transfers per day from Altnagelvin Hospital to SWAH between December 5, 2002, and March 15 this year. However, after March 15, transfer recording stopped, leaving gaps in crucial data.
NIAS acknowledged the pressure caused by surgical service changes in a recent FOI response.
“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 spokesman.
Local campaigners have pointed to the impact the removal of emergency general surgery from the South West Acute Hospital is having on response times.
“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 Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) spokesperson Helen Hamill.
The current delays are causing serious risks to patient safety and overwhelming frontline staff. 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.”
