FOI 25-580 - Sick Leave and Paternity Leave

Freedom of Information Request

Reference

FOI 25-580 - Sick Leave and Paternity Leave

Request Date

15 Dec 2025

Response Date

09 Jan 2026

Information Requested

I would please like to know, in each of the last three years for which you have data: 
1) The number of staff employed by the trust 
2) The total number of days of sick leave taken by staff who took paternity leave in the preceding 12 months 
3) The total number of days of sick leave taken by all staff across the trust 
If you are unable to provide all this data, please provide it for only the most recent full year for which you have data. 

Response

Q1 - The Scottish Ambulance Service publishes workforce information in its Annual Report & Accounts. The 2024/25 report notes the Service has over 5,700 members of staff, with detailed workforce metrics in the Staff Report section. As this information is publicly available, we are applying Section 25(1) (information otherwise accessible) and directing you to: 
• Annual Report & Accounts 2024/25: SCOTTISH AMBULANCE SERVICE (see “Who we are” and the Staff Report).  
• Index of Annual Reports: Annual Report and Accounts 

 

Q2 – The Scottish Ambulance Service do not hold a published aggregate of “days of sick leave” specifically for the subset of staff who took paternity leave in the preceding 12 months. A public authority is not obliged to create new information in order to answer a FOISA request.  In order to answer you request we would have to review all sickness absence in the past three years and apply complex skill and judgment to assess if sick leave was taken in the preceding 12 months.  It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held. 

 

Q3 – The Scottish Ambulance Service do not hold sickness absence counts in days, it is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held.  Sickness-absence rates are published nationally by NHS Education for Scotland; the Scottish Ambulance Service have published working hours lost to sickness. 

The Scottish Ambulance Service has previously published working hours lost broken down by financial years in FOI 25-288 available on our website - FOI25-288 Staff Sickness