Firefighters drafted in to support struggling ambulance service
But a union claims the move from the health secretary will not help
Firefighters are to be drafted in alongside the military to support Scotland’s struggling ambulance service.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has announced the move, ahead of a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
He is also pledging an additional £20 million of cash to help the under-pressure Scottish Ambulance Service - with this money coming on top of £20 million recently awarded to help boost recruitment.
Pressure increasing as a result of the pandemic
The extra help was announced in the wake of the service coming under increasing pressure amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The recent spike in cases has affected workloads across the NHS - with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warning recently that the ambulance service and the health service as a whole are facing the most challenging winter in a lifetime.
Ms Sturgeon was last week forced to apologise “unreservedly” for long waiting times, coming under fire on the issue after a 65-year-old died after waiting 40 hours for an ambulance.
The First Minister said then that the army could be called in to help the Scottish Ambulance Service.
And Mr Yousaf will tell MSPs today that the fire service has answered a call for urgent assistance.
More hospital capacity is needed, rather than extra ambulance staff
However, Unite convener at the Scottish Ambulance Service Jamie McNamee told Forth 1 News he doesn’t believe this will help, as the problem lies in getting people into hospitals: “We have patient-flow issues at major A&E departments. This is a healthboard issue and a bedding issue.
“So we’re going to get 90 military personnel who can work in a non-emergency environment. That’ll assist, potentially, the healthboard in getting people home or moving them around to different facilities, but it won’t help us at all.
“We need patient-flow improved. We need capacity built in at these major A&E departments.”