The Pathfinder medical response service in Galway has been suspended for the month of March.
This is a frontline team of therapists and advanced paramedics who respond to 999 calls when elderly people suffer falls.
80% of cases can be treated in their own homes avoiding a visit to a crowded A&E.
It's understood the suspension is to allow the personnel work in A&E departments as hospitals are so under pressure at the moment.
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However Independent Ireland Councillor Noel Thomas has called on the Minister for Health to urgently reverse it.
Councillor Thomas says Pathfinder is exactly the kind of smart healthcare service we should be expanding
