SNP ministers have been accused of pushing ambulance service staff to “breaking point” after shock new figures revealed almost three million hours of overtime have been carried out in the last five years.
The findings, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through a Freedom of Information request reveal 2,869,478 hours of over time were conducted between 2020 and 2024
The response from the Scottish Ambulance Service reveals this has left them with an “eye-watering” over time bill of over £77 million during that time, with almost a quarter of all hours filled last year coming from overtime shifts.
Shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane says the SNP’s dire workforce planning has left ambulance crews “dangerously understaffed” and unable to cope with the demands placed upon them.
He says it is unacceptable that emergency services are being kept afloat by overtime shifts which he believes can put both patients and staff at “serious risk”.
Dr Gulhane added that the SNP’s failure to tackle lengthy A&E waiting times means ambulances are regularly backed up outside hospitals instead of responding to emergencies.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “It is completely unacceptable that our ambulance services is being kept afloat thanks to soaring levels of overtime shifts in recent years.
“This will be pushing already exhausted staff beyond breaking point and is completely unsustainable.
“Relying on overstretched staff to plug gaps in shift will be putting staff as well as patients at serious risk.
“Ambulance crews have been left dangerously understaff because of years of dire workforce planning by successive SNP health secretaries who are clueless to the scale of the emergency facing them.
“The SNP have also failed to meet their own A&E waiting time target in five years. These delays leave ambulances stuck outside hospitals for hours instead of continuing to respond to emergencies.
“All aspects of Scotland’s NHS is in a state of permanent crisis under the SNP and they have no plan to fix it. Neil Gray should finally adopt our common sense plans to slash bureaucracy and get resources to the frontline where they are needed most.”