£20M BID TO TACKLE 999 CHAOS PCR travel rule may be axed
Soldiers, taxi drivers and even students called in as crisis deepens
TAXI drivers, soldiers and firefighters are being drafted in to solve Scotland’s deepening ambulance crisis.
The British Red Cross will also be called in to free up paramedics to treat patients, while student medics will be asked to answer 999 calls.
A full-scale emergency response will see more than 200 military personnel deployed – with the first of these to begin driving ambulances this weekend.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf yesterday set out a series of urgent measures, including a £20million funding boost for the Scottish Ambulance Service, as first responders struggle to deal with an influx of patients.
Mr Yousaf said that as well as pulling in support from other public services to help ease the pressure on ambulances, the private sector would be involved in the response.
He also announced that taxi drivers would be used to help transfer non-emergency patients.
His statement laid bare the fragile state of Scotland’s NHS ahead of the winter period.
Mr Yousaf was forced to seek emergency measures to help alleviate the pressure on the
‘He’s not delivering. It is on Humza Yousaf’s watch’
ambulance service after it emerged a 65-yearold man died after waiting 40 hours for help.
Other horrific cases have revealed lengthy waits for elderly Scots forced to lie in pain with no medics nearby.
Speaking at Holyrood, Mr Yousaf said the Scottish Ambulance Service was experiencing ‘unprecedented demand’ along with other services elsewhere in the UK ‘largely because of Covid-19, but also due to a combination of increasingly complex cases and exceptionally busy emergency departments’.
He set out emergency measures to help the ambulance service, including British military support from 225 personnel to be drafted in from this weekend. Of these, 88 will drive ambulances to help free up paramedics.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed a further 111 soldiers will be sent to operate mobile testing units.
Additional drivers will be provided by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the British Red Cross and private taxi firms.
While the response from Mr Yousaf comes amid a crisis situation, fears have been raised over the deployment of drivers with no medical training to transfer patients to hospital – even in nonemergency cases.
Jamie McNamee, Unite union convener for the Scottish Ambulance Service, said he had ‘profound concerns’.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: ‘What is deeply worrying is that ministers seem to believe that by providing more ambulance drivers, ones who are not medically or emergency trained, then this is the solution.
‘It isn’t and it’s in danger of exacerbating the problems because we have profound concerns about the training and medical expertise of these additional drivers.’
Mr Yousaf sought to allay fears, saying: ‘Let me be absolutely clear, if you are in critical or life-threatening need you will be taken to hospital in an ambulance, if one is requested.
‘Patient safety will remain the number one priority.’ Some 100 second-year paramedic students, the Health Secretary added, would support call-handling operations, while nine more hospital ambulance liaison officers will be hired to co-ordinate emergency care.
The Scottish Conservatives hit out at Mr Yousaf’s failure to take urgent action previously when serious issues started to arise.
The party’s health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘Scotland’s ambulance services need real leadership from Humza Yousaf.
‘So far, he’s not delivering. It is on Humza Yousaf’s watch that things have reached this critical state, where taxi drivers are on standby to transport patients to hospital.
‘He should have got on top of this crisis well before it reached this point. It is a clear sign of the lack of strategy from the SNP Government.’
Last night the MoD confirmed that 114 personnel, including drivers and support staff, will provide help to the ambulance service – and will be paired with a clinical professional in their work.
They are expected to remain in post for a couple of months.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘Our Armed Forces are once again stepping up, demonstrating their versatility as we support the Covid-19 response across the UK.
‘We are proud to work alongside the dedicated men and women at the Scottish Ambulance Service as they continue to provide a lifesaving service to the people of Scotland.’
THE public health benefit of having stricter travel rules than England may not justify the cost, Nicola Sturgeon has admitted.
The First Minister is to give a final decision on whether to scrap PCR testing for travellers returning to Scotland ‘in the next day or so’.
The SNP Government indicated last week it would not follow the UK Government’s decision to stop the requirement for the tests, which can cost an average of between £60 and £120 per passenger.
But it sparked a backlash from the tourism industry, which claimed it could destroy hopes of a recovery next year.
Miss Sturgeon yesterday said she has ‘real concerns’ about easing the rule because it can help guard against new Covid variants entering the country.
But she added: ‘We also fully agree with the desirability wherever possible of adopting a four-nations approach to travel restrictions.’ She said if Scotland has more stringent requirements than England, Scots could opt to fly abroad from English airports.
Miss Sturgeon added: ‘We would potentially face the economic cost of stricter travel rules, without gaining enough public health benefit to justify that economic cost.’
Chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Dr Liz Cameron said a four-nations approach was ‘essential’.