FOI 26-062 Therapy Dog Interventions

Freedom of Information Request

Reference
FOI 26-062 Therapy Dog Interventions
Request Date
03 Feb 2026
Response Date
13 Feb 2026
Information Requested

This is a freedom of information request for the following, please:  

  1. Does the trust/ambulance service utilise therapy dog intervention?

 If so, why or why not? 

 Is there a specific reason why the trust/ambulance service has or has not utilised a therapy dog.  

  1. When did your trust/ambulance service first offer these interventions, is it ongoing? 

If they have ceased, why?  

  1. If your trust/ambulance service offers therapy dog intervention, what form does it take? 

Can you provide details on how staff access these interventions. For example, timings, setting, on an ad hoc basis or at specific times etc, etc.  

  1. Who exactly can access a therapy dog? 

Is it available to frontline staff/staff working in acute care situations?  

Or staff who are not patient facing?  

If it’s for a specific population of workers and not available to frontline clinical staff, why?  

  1. Is there a specificreason whya dog is used? 

 For example, for mental health, to improve staff wellbeing, etc.  

  1. If your trust/ambulance servicedoesn’tuse a dog, does the trust/ambulance service utilise any other animal intervention?  
  2. Please provide any details of barriers or limitations in the use of therapy dogs. 
  3. Does the trust/ambulance service collect any data surrounding the use of therapy dog intervention? 

If so, what? Please provide data, if you have it.  

Details on how the use of a therapy dog impacts staff wellbeing are particularly useful.  

  1. If your trust/ambulance service utilise a therapy dog, have you had improvements in staff mental health and wellbeing? 

Has there been an identifiable trend in staff sickness absence numbers etc.  

  1. Have staff provided feedback on such intervention? If so, please provide details. 

Furthermore, how were they recruited for their feedback, was it given voluntarily or requested?  

Additionally, was there a reasonable amount of feedback provided?  

  1. Does the trust/ambulance service have any policy, standard operating procedures or guidance on dog therapy or animal assisted interventions in the workplace? If so, please provide this. 
  2. Who provides therapy dog intervention?
Response

The Scottish Ambulance Service currently does not utilise any therapy dog interventions or indeed any other animal therapy interventions. We encourage our staff to provide us suggestions of what they feel would further improve their mental and physical wellbeing at work on an ongoing basis and we are receiving an increasing number of requests to introduce therapy dogs. Due to the number of requests we have had, we are going to explore the potential of how we could do this safely and effectively in our plans for the next financial year. There are limitations of how we could practically introduce this in our stations with a mobile workforce, however piloting an approach in our control rooms might be a good first step. This will be discussed fully with input from the Health & Safety Team as appropriate prior to implementation. 

 

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is obliged to provide recorded information held at the time of your request. Where we do not hold the requested information, we issue a notice under Section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held). 

1) Does SAS utilise therapy dog intervention? - No. SAS does not currently utilise therapy dog interventions (or any other animal‑assisted interventions). Section 17(1) – information not held (no programme in place, therefore no associated records). 

Why or why not / specific reason? Not applicable to a programme we do not operate. It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

  1. When did your trust/ambulance service first offer these interventions, is it ongoing? 

If they have ceased, why?  

Not Applicable, The Scottish Ambulance Service has never offered therapy dog interventions.  It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. If your trust/ambulance service offers therapy dog intervention, what form does it take? 

Can you provide details on how staff access these interventions. For example, timings, setting, on an ad hoc basis or at specific times etc, etc.  

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Who exactly can access a therapy dog? 

Is it available to frontline staff/staff working in acute care situations?  

Or staff who are not patient facing?  

If it’s for a specific population of workers and not available to frontline clinical staff, why?  

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Is there a specificreason whya dog is used? 

 For example, for mental health, to improve staff wellbeing, etc.  

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. If your trust/ambulance servicedoesn’tuse a dog, does the trust/ambulance service utilise any other animal intervention?  

SAS does not utilise other animal-based interventions.  It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Please provide any details of barriers or limitations in the use of therapy dogs. 

SAS does not hold recorded assessments of barriers/limitations for a programme we do not operate, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

 

  1. Does the trust/ambulance service collect any data surrounding the use of therapy dog intervention? 

If so, what? Please provide data, if you have it.  

Details on how the use of a therapy dog impacts staff wellbeing are particularly useful.  

SAS does not collect data on therapy dog interventions because none are in place.  It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

 

  1. If your trust/ambulance service utilise a therapy dog, have you had improvements in staff mental health and wellbeing? 

Has there been an identifiable trend in staff sickness absence numbers etc.  

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Have staff provided feedback on such intervention? If so, please provide details. 

Furthermore, how were they recruited for their feedback, was it given voluntarily or requested?  

Additionally, was there a reasonable amount of feedback provided?  

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Does the trust/ambulance service have any policy, standard operating procedures or guidance on dog therapy or animal assisted interventions in the workplace? If so, please provide this. 

SAS does not hold a policy/SOP/Guidance specific to therapy dogs or animal-assisted interventions.  It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

 

  1. Who provides therapy dog intervention?

Not Applicable, It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of FOISA as information not held. 

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