PRESS RELEASE

September 18th, 2008

MSP voices ambulances concerns

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil has backed attempts to end the single crewing of local ambulances.

But he has warned the Scottish Government more funding needs to be made available if the Scottish Ambulance Service is to overcome the problem which have plagued it over the last year.

Mr McNeil raised the issue after a statement by Secretary Nicola Sturgeon outlining measures to tackle the issue of single-crewing on emergency call outs, including 40 new jobs and £4.7 million investment over three years.

But there are still a worrying number of outstanding pressures to be addressed, such as a fair pay settlement for ambulance staff, a 12 per cent jump in ambulance service demand and the introduction of new services such as new emergency heart treatment.

He had raised his concerns about the local ambulance service during a debate back in June.

The MSP said: “We are well served by our local ambulance service, which has an 80 per cent response rate to category A calls and already exceeds the 2009 targets set for them by the Scottish Government.

“That is to their credit because they have achieved this on a background of staff problems and budget cuts that appear to have affected staff morale.

“With ambulance demand increasing by 12 per cent from last year, the government has to keep on top of this.

“That means paying emergency workers what they are worth, staffing ambulances at the correct level and ensuring people who have the misfortune of requiring an ambulance get the best possible service.

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