The Health Minister says ambulance turn-around times in Dublin are improving.
Earlier this week, almost every ambulance in the capital was held up at the Mater for an hour, because the hospital needed their trolleys.
Eight ambulances, from both Dublin Fire Brigade and the HSE, were parked outside the Mater’s emergency department because the hospital needed the ambulance's trolleys for patients as it didn't have enough of its own.
Reacting to the news this afternoon, Leo Varadkar said "the number of ambulances being released between 30 to 60 minutes is released every month, and they show that ambulance turn-around times are actually improving".
The Health Minister said there are certain circumstances where ambulances could be tied up, admitting "there will always from time to time be surges of patients, for example if there's an outbreak of something or if there's a car crash".
Leo Varadkar's comments come a week before nurses at Beaumont’s A&E begin a work to rule there because of understaffing and overcrowding there.
