Extra staff and resources for ambulance service in West Lothian

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is boosting its ambulance provision in West Lothian as part of its Demand and Capacity Programme.

The Demand and Capacity Programme is aimed at ensuring SAS is working as efficiently as possible and has resources in place to meet both current and projected future demand.

As part of the review, across Scotland an additional 540 frontline A&E staff have been recruited this financial year – the highest number of staff ever to have joined the Service in a single year.

The programme has been supported by a £20 million investment from the Scottish Government so far.

The Scottish Ambulance Service employs over 5000 highly skilled staff.

Bo’ness will receive an extra resource and the station will also gain an extra five staff this year. Bathgate will increase its resources, moving from one vehicle to two 24/7 vehicles. In total, across the East Region, there is an overall increase of 1940 Double Crew Ambulance hours.

Clair Wright, area service manager for West Lothian, said: “This is welcome news for the West Lothian region and surrounding areas. We are committed to increasing our ambulance provision in and the past 12 months have been the busiest in terms of recruitment for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

“With the increased demand for our services, it’s vital we introduce extra resources and staffing. This will ensure we continue to deliver the very best patient care by boosting capacity and increasing our resilience in communities across Scotland.”

This increase in staffing and resources, coupled with alignment of shift patterns to patient demand profiles, aims to improve patient safety and staff welfare.

This year, additional ambulances have gone live in Edinburgh and Lothian, Greater Glasgow, Tayside, Grampian and Clyde.

SAS has also established seven new satellite stations, of which six are co-located with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The new staff nationally include 414 Technicians, 25 Paramedics, 58 Newly Qualified Paramedics, 23 Advanced Practitioners and 20 Ambulance Care Assistants. 192 staff have been recruited into the East, 111 for the North and 237 for the West.

Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop (SNP) commented: “I am pleased to see the increase of Ambulance Service resources in my constituency and beyond, and this will make a big difference to the local community.

“The pandemic has put unforeseen pressure on Ambulance Service staff, and it is imperative that we protect this vital service by ensuring it has the resources needed.

“I want to express my gratitude once again to our ambulance staff, here in West Lothian, whose incredible work and determination over the past two years in particular has not gone unnoticed and will not be forgotten.

"We owe healthcare workers a great debt and it is heartening to see the SNP Scottish Government’s commitment to taking action to support our Health Service and its staff.”