Question reference: S6W-02539
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 25 August 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the commitment in its 2016-17 Programme for Government to "train 1,000 new paramedics over the next five years", and by what date this will be achieved.
Answer
To date 791 paramedics have been recruited. Another 126 will come on stream in 4 months with more than 100 joining in early 2022.
Covid-19 has resulted in some delays to recruitment which will push the achievement of this commitment out to 2022 but revised plans indicate a high level of confidence in achieving this.
With increasing A&E attendances, demand and capacity concerns and the impact of Covid-19, it is important that we ensure the NHS is equipped with the resources it needs to meet the challenges of the future. By investing in a professional, highly skilled ambulance workforce, this will help deliver a better service for patients all across Scotland.