Vágar ambulance service struggles to recruit staff

The Faroe Islands’ hospital service is struggling to staff its ambulance station in Vágar with two people every day of the year, KVF reports. Health Minister Eyðdis Hartmann Niclasen said the service needs more trained ambulance staff in a response to MP Jóhannis Joensen.

Joensen asked whether the minister could ensure the station was staffed by two people all year. In August, he also raised the ambulance service in Vágar. The minister then said the ambulance in Miðvágur had been without staff for 30 full days last year. The ambulance should have two staff members, but for 16 days only one person was available.

Niclasen said she takes the situation very seriously and will work to ensure the station is staffed by two people every day as soon as possible. Two employees are expected to complete a qualification programme for ambulance care workers in January. Four others are training to become assistants and are expected to start work in that role towards the end of the year.

The hospital service has advertised several times for ambulance care workers and assistants in the Faroe Islands and other Nordic countries, but has only managed to recruit temporary workers for short periods, the minister said.