FOI 25-383 Private Ambulance Contractors 2024/2025

Freedom of Information Request

Reference

FOI 25-383 Private Ambulance Contractors 2024/2025

Request Date

03 Sep 2025

Response Date

12 Sep 2025

Information Requested

How much is being spent in Scotland on use of private ambulance contractors and may occasions they have been used in 2024/2025 April to end of March.  The same question of use and cost for Lanarkshire HealthBoard Area. 

Why these contractors are used instead of using the Scottish Ambulance staff and vehicles. 

Response

The Scottish Ambulance Service do not have contracts or utilise Private Ambulance Services. 

 

For the financial year of 2024/2025 the Scottish Ambulance Service utilised the British Red Cross, the total spend for the financial year was £421,126.  It is important to note, the Scottish Ambulance Service stopped using the British Red Cross in September 2024. 

The invoices are not held in such a way that allows us to separate the costs specifically for Lanarkshire, it is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held. 

 

Please see the tables below detailing the total number of occasions the British Red Cross was utilised during the 2024-2025 financial year:- 

 

The British Red Cross	2024-2025
All Incidents	1476
Lanarkshire Incidents	488

  

The British Red Cross may attend an emergency incident in one of the following capacities: 

• As a patient transport crew where a patient has been assessed by a clinician as suitable for transport to hospital by this type of resource. These incidents would be attended under normal driving conditions (i.e. no lights and sirens).
• As a first responder similar to the role of our Community First Responder scheme. Working in this capacity the Red Cross crew will be backed up by a Scottish Ambulance Service crew. These incidents would be attended by red cross under normal driving conditions (i.e. no lights and sirens).