Two injured men were left waiting over 90 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the scene following a collision in Jerrettspass yesterday morning (Wednesday).
It happened on the Tandragee Road outside Newry, with one of the men left seriously injured and in need of urgent medical attention.
The wait time was highlighted by Sinn Fein councillor, Oonagh Magennis, who described the case as “extremely concerning”.
The Slieve Gullion councillor said: “For any patients, particularly those in a serious condition, this is a waiting time which does pose very real concerns.
“We have written to the Southern Trust, asking for an explanation as to why these patients were kept waiting for so long.”
A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said the 999 call was received at 9.15am, with one emergency crew despatched to the scene.
“The charity Air Ambulance with HEMS on board were also tasked to the incident,” the spokesperson added.
“One patient was taken to Royal Victoria Hospital by Ambulance.”
Councillor Magennis continued: “The ongoing pressure facing our Health Service also extends to our Ambulance service. It is clear that many patients are facing unacceptable waiting times in emergency care and this is just one of the many consequences of a decade of Tory austerity on local services.
“Our ambulance crews do amazing, life saving work under extremely challenging circumstances and they need to be properly resourced and supported.
“Investing in the Health service to tackle ambulance waiting times must be a priority for the Health Minister to improve ambulance wait times for rural communities such as South Armagh.”
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