FIREFIGHTERS have been called up to assist Scotland’s stretched ambulance service, the Health Secretary has announced.
Humza Yousaf is also pledging an additional £20 million to help under-pressure paramedics – with this money coming on top of £20 million recently awarded to help boost recruitment.
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 the First Minister warning recently that Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and the NHS as a whole are facing the most challenging winter in a lifetime.
Nicola Sturgeon apologised "unreservedly" last week for long waiting times, coming under fire on the issue after a 65-year-old died after waiting 40 hours for an ambulance.
The SNP leader said then that the army could be called in to help the Scottish Ambulance Service.
And Yousaf will tell MSPs today that the fire service has answered a call for urgent assistance.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon to give Covid update amid NHS crisis – here's how you can watch
He told the Daily Record newspaper: "We have made a call to arms across the public sector to assist and we are pleased the Fire and Rescue service has agreed to help and provide additional resources.
"These are things we wouldn't normally ask in peacetime but they need to be done given the nature of the crisis."
His comments come ahead of a statement to Holyrood on the pressures the ambulance service is facing on Tuesday afternoon.
Speaking about the additional £20m, he stated: "The SAS can draw on this funding immediately and whenever it is required over the winter period.
"It will be up to the ambulance service when to spend it but given the urgency of what we are dealing with we expect them to spend it as quickly as they possibly can."
The pressures on the service have seen ambulance waiting times rise to an average of six hours – with the Scottish Government coming under pressure from opposition leaders to deal with the situation.
The Health Secretary added: "We are still going to face an incredibly challenging winter, we know the flu season is still to hit.
"I am not going to pretend these measures are a silver bullet but I am expecting when it comes to the response times for the most severely ill and the top level of callouts to be reduced."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel