Cash-strapped Scottish health boards are paying increasing amounts of their overstretched budgets to private ambulance firms, new figures published by UNISON show today (Wednesday).
The union is so concerned about the use of public funds being used for private profit that it has written to cabinet secretary for health Neil Gray.
Eight of Scotland’s fourteen health boards responded with figures, suggesting a substantial increase in spending. Five of the boards had given figures in 2020/21 that showed a total of £0.52m back then, but this had climbed to £1.34m by 2024/25 – a rise of more than 150%.
With the addition of three other boards, which hadn’t responded previously, the spend for 2024/25 was £2.6m. The figure is likely to be considerably higher though, says UNISON, as six boards have not provided comparable sums.
NHS Lanarkshire alone spent over £975,000 last year, while NHS Fife spent over £787,000 on private ambulances.
UNISON Scotland’s joint lead for Health Matt McLaughlin said: “These figures should serve as a stark wake-up call for the Scottish government. These costs are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg too.
“Cash-strapped health boards shouldn’t be spending money they can ill afford have on privately owned ambulances. Instead of wasting vast sums on these firms and boosting the profits of their shareholders, their scarce funds would be better invested into a properly funded Scottish Ambulance Service.
“If the ambulance service was given the resources it needs, waits and delays would be reduced, patients would receive better care and staff would feel less overwhelmed.
“Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray must put an immediate end to private sector ambulances and focus on investment in NHS services instead.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the largest health union, representing over 60,000 NHS staff in Scotland including nurses, midwives, call handlers, paramedics, administrators, caterers, porters and facilities staff.
– UNISON’s letter to Neil Gray can be viewed here.
– UNISON health conference runs from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 April at ACC Liverpool, L3 4FP. The union’s general secretary Christina McAnea will be speaking on Tuesday (8) afternoon.
– UNISON requested data from all of Scotland’s health boards in its freedom of information request. Those that responded with figures are included in the table below.
* full year not provided by some boards
| Health board | 2020/21
£ |
2021/22
£ |
2022/23
£ |
2023/24
£ |
2024/25*
£ |
| NHS Ayrshire and Arran | – | 180,822 | 514,564 | 617,733 | 465,467 |
| NHS Borders | 8,044 | 4,298 | 3,530 | 1,897 | 902 |
| NHS Dumfries and Galloway | 32,308 | 36,852 | 54,210 | 51,577 | 55,028 |
| NHS Fife | – | 9,980 | 273,653 | 554,964 | 787,944 |
| NHS Forth Valley | – | – | – | – | – |
| NHS Grampian | 180,009 | 391,000 | 417,000 | 350,000 | 308,000 |
| NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | – | – | – | – | – |
| NHS Highland | 28,960 | 35,167 | 55,250 | 48,015 | – |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 267,112 | 967,921 | 1,242,524 | 312,633 | 975,909 |
| NHS Lothian | – | – | 165,981 | 79,276 | 62,179 |
| NHS Orkney | – | – | – | – | – |
| NHS Shetland | – | – | – | – | – |
| NHS Tayside | – | – | – | – | – |