Modern slavery statement for Scottish Ambulance Service

This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act (2015) and sets out the
steps that the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) have taken, and will continue to take, to
ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our organization and commissioned services.

Modern slavery is the recruitment, movement, harboring or receiving of children, women or me through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. Individuals may be trafficked into, out of or within the UK, and they may be trafficked for a number of reasons including sexual exploitation, forced labur, domestic servitude and organ harvesting. Traffickers and slavers use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.

SAS have a zero tolerance approach to any form of abuse and thus modern slavery is
incorporated within the Public Protection and Security work streams.

We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all our business
dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to protect our staff and the public against any form of modern slavery.

Through the implementation of robust recruitment policies and procedures SAS ensure that
comprehensive checks and balances are in place to negate the likelihood of individuals being
employed by SAS who have been trafficked illegally or who are the victims of Modern Slavery.


These checks include but are not limited to:

  • Undertaking appropriate references
  • Occupational health screening
  • PVG checks, immigration
  • Identity checks

By adopting the national pay, terms and conditions of service, the service has the assurance
that all staff will be treated fairly in respect of pay and will comply with the latest legislation.
The service has appropriate policies and procedures in place designed to provide guidance and advice to staff, managers and volunteers. These policies are available on the staff intranet or via the Once for Scotland web site. An Equality Impact Assessment is completed on each policy to assess the impact from an equality and diversity perspective and to ensure SAS is conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These policies include

  • Public Protection Policy
  • Bullying & Harassment policy
  • Grievance Policy
  • Equality and Diversity including Gender Based Violence Policy
  • Whistleblowing
  • Recruitment and Selection Policy


The Scottish Ambulance Service are responsible for procuring third party providers of goods
and services. The Service’s procurement approach follows the Scottish Government
Procurement Journey Standard and includes a mandatory exclusion question regarding the
Modern Slavery Act 2015. When procuring goods and services, the Service additionally
applies NHS Terms and Conditions (for non-clinical procurement) and the NHS Standard
Contract (for clinical procurement). Both require suppliers to comply with the relevant
legislation.

The Scottish Ambulance Service are responsible for monitoring the quality of services and care provided to patients. The Service will therefore ensure that all commissioned service providers are aware of their responsibilities and that further, they have effective systems in place, demonstrating a similar zero tolerance to human trafficking, compliant with the Modern Slavery Act (2015).


The supplier’s contract will include:
a) Warranties whereby the supplier gives an assurance or promise to comply with the Act,
a breach of which may give rise to a claim for damages and/or termination of the
contract;
b) Indemnities – an undertaking by the supplier to meet any costs incurred by the NHS
organisation as a result of the supplier’s non-compliance with the Act;
c) Rights to request and audit information in respect of the supplier’s on-going
compliance with the Act;
d) Rights to terminate if the supplier commits an offence under the Act.

SAS staff and volunteers may attend to patients who are modern day slaves. SAS recognise
that the Modern Slavery Act 2015 highlights the importance of identifying and responding to
victims of Modern Slavery.

SAS regularly conduct training and awareness sessions for all frontline responders to ensure
they recognize and understand the signs of modern slavery and know what to do if they suspect that it is taking place.

SAS public protection policies and processes exist to protect vulnerable men, women and
children from exploitation. The processes in place enable staff to refer patients or their family and friends to services for protection from modern day slavery.


Approval for this statement
This statement was approved by the Trust Board on 15 June 2021