Obese Patients Cost Ambulance Service £3.5m
An increase in the number of obese patients has forced the Scottish Ambulance Service to spend around £3.5 million on specialist equipment.
Extra-wide wheelchairs have been purchased, along with walking frames and super-strong mats to drag people who are too heavy to be carried.
In all, the service has more than 1000 pieces of equipment designed to cope with overweight patients.
It is thought the biggest outlay has been on lifting cushions which slide underneath people, inflate and lift them on to their feet - they cost about £3,000 each.
Reports suggest the number of severely overweight patients transported by ambulance has risen from 7,000 in 2010 to more than 17,000 last year.