£20m to address ambulance system pressures in Scotland

Additional funding of £20 million will be invested in the Scottish Ambulance Service to help improve response times, alleviate pressures and improve staff well-being.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said that the new investment will deliver: assistance from more than 100 military personnel following final approval by the Ministry of Defence; approximately 100 second year paramedic students to help in ambulance control rooms; more Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers at the busiest A&Es, increasing from 11 to 20; and additional help from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in the form of volunteer drivers, as well as the British Red Cross and private transport companies where clinically appropriate

The money will also enable immediate work to create temporary admission wards in hospitals, meaning patients can be admitted quicker, and £500,000 to fund staff wellbeing measures.

The funding comes in addition to £20 million already announced as part of the NHS Recovery Plan. That investment will deliver a net increase of almost 300 ambulance service staff by April 2022.

Yousaf said: “The global pandemic has created the most challenging crisis in the history of the NHS. Ambulance services around the UK, as well as the wider NHS, are experiencing unprecedented demand – largely because of Covid-19, but also due to a combination of increasingly complex cases, and exceptionally busy emergency departments.

“The Scottish Ambulance Service is the heartbeat of our NHS. It has a unique role in engaging with all parts of the health and social care system across the whole of Scotland - 24 hours of every day. It is vital that we ensure it has the support it needs to perform this crucial role.  

“The additional investment I have set out today means that the Scottish Ambulance service’s frontline budget for this year is more than 16 per cent higher than it was last year. The measures we have announced today will begin to address some of these issues, both improving the level of service for the public, and also helping to reduce the pressure on the workforce, who are doing so much to serve the public during these incredibly demanding times.”