A county councillor has called for people who try to use the ambulance service as a taxi to be fined or stripped of their social welfare payments. 

Fine Gael Cllr Angela Baily said the practice was “a lot more rampant” than she previously thought and said numerous people in Kerry have raised the issue with her. 

She said she found this particularly shocking given her own mother’s “absolutely incredible” recent care from the ambulance service. 

“They said there are several situations where perhaps people are using the ambulance service as a taxi service or calling for non-medical emergencies,” she told Lunchtime Live. 

“Which really, I suppose, made me think of other people who are looking for the same service and don't get it because it's being abused by other people.”

An ambulance. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie.

Cllr Baily added that she has no official figures but has been  told plenty of anecdotal stories. 

“There's a local councillor down here, Councillor Leane, and he has told us about how outside his bar, he regularly sees people calling an ambulance when they've maybe had too much to drink,” she said. 

“They can't find a taxi.

“I also think that it's being abused in situations where people don't have a medical emergency. 

“Perhaps they don't have a car, perhaps they don't want a taxi, perhaps they don't understand the stress that this service is already under?” 

An ambulance. Picture by: PA Images / Alamy.

Cllr continued that this risks an ambulance being dispatched to help someone who does not need their help, while someone in need of urgent care is left to fend for themselves. 

“There was an accident there, I believe, some time ago where someone had called an ambulance,” she said. 

“They didn't need an ambulance, but they then [there was] a road accident that I believe resulted in one of the people dying.”

Cllr Baily said the phenomenon was “a lot more rampant” than she thought and tabled a motion on the issue for Kerry County Council to consider it. 

“My motion was that first of all, we'd be calling for the development and implementation of stronger measures to address the ongoing misuse and abuse of the ambulance resources,” she said. 

“Particularly in terms of fines, perhaps losing some benefits if they are on benefits. 

“But also for the establishment of a dedicated national telephone service for acute non-urgent medical needs.”

In a statement to Newstalk, a spokesperson for the HSE National Ambulance Service said they always aim to deliver the "highest standard of care for people" who call 999. 

"If services are tied up unnecessarily at a call it can mean that they may have been unable to get to another destination in the case of a real emergency," the spokesperson said.

"If another call comes in, there may be a delay in getting the services there, which could lead to a negative patient outcome. However, the NAS cannot discredit any calls received by a member of the public and we must thoroughly check and respond to each emergency call."

Main image:An ambulance. Picture by: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie