Day: October 12, 2022

Record recruitment to Scotland’s Ambulance Service

Recruitment to Scotland’s ambulance service has hit a record high, helping to boost the service this winter. A record 540 paramedics, ambulance drivers, call handlers, and clinicians have been employed in the last year.

This is driven by a £45 million funding boost announced as part of last week’s NHS winter resilience plan, which will ensure the NHS is working as efficiently as possible.

The increase in staff numbers is already having a tangible impact on response times – with 99% of all serious incidents, such as heart attacks, being dealt with in under 30 minutes.

The investment will increase the number of patients treated in the community, reducing the need for hospital admission and easing pressure on NHS services. 

On a visit to an ambulance station in Edinburgh, Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf said: “This winter will be one of the most challenging our NHS has ever faced, and we need to make sure people are getting the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

“We are determined to equip the Scottish Ambulance Service with the resources and staff to continue to deliver a high-quality emergency service to the people of Scotland.

“Ambulance staff have shown remarkable resilience in the face of sustained pressure on services and I would like to thank them for their continued commitment and hard work.”

Pauline Howie, Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive said: “The last 12 months have been the busiest ever in terms of recruitment for the Service and this funding announcement is great news as we continue to experience unprecedented pressures on our services alongside the entire NHS.

“With the increased demand for our services, it’s vital we boost our capacity and resilience by introducing extra resources and staffing. These new staff will complement our existing staff who have done an amazing job before and right throughout the pandemic, providing the very best patient care to communities across the country.”

Shannen McLoughlin is a newly qualified paramedic who has graduated from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and started with the Scottish Ambulance Service in October 2021.

She said: “I absolutely love my job and have already been fortunate enough to have worked with a number of fantastic paramedics. I found this really benefited my practice and allowed me to get to grips with the transitional role from a student paramedic to a newly qualified paramedic.

“There is such a wide variety of jobs on a shift, there really is never a dull moment and that is why I am so glad I chose to become a paramedic in Edinburgh.”

Those recruitment figures are good news for our beleaguered NHS, but the Tory opposition are keeping up the pressure on Humzah Yousaf:

Climate crisis: ‘People power is critical to reach our environmental goals’

Westminster’s Environment and Climate Change Committee has published a report which warns that the Government’s current approach to enabling behaviour change is seriously inadequate and will result in the UK failing to meet its net zero and environment targets.

The Committee identified—drawing on the Committee on Climate Change’s assessment—that one third of greenhouse gas emissions reductions up to 2035 require decisions by individuals and households to adopt low carbon technologies and choose low-carbon products and services, as well as reduce carbon-intensive consumption.

The Committee found that while the Government has introduced some policies to help people adopt new technologies, like electric cars, that focus has not been replicated in other areas.

The Committee concluded that there has been too great a reliance on as yet undeveloped technologies to get the UK to net zero and a reluctance to help people cut carbon-intensive consumption.

During the inquiry the Committee heard from 146 organisations from across the UK and further afield including businesses, local authorities, charities and think tanks as well as government ministers, academics & researchers, and young people.

Baroness Parminter, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee said: “After a summer of record temperatures, fires and hose pipe bans, it has never been more apparent that the twin crises of climate change and nature loss demand an immediate and sustained response.

“People power is critical to reach our environmental goals, but unless we are encouraged and enabled to change behaviours in how we travel, what we eat and buy and how we heat our homes, we won’t meet those targets. Polling shows the public is ready for leadership from the Government. People want to know how to play their part in tackling climate change and environmental damage. 

“The Government’s mantra of “going with the grain of consumer choice” demonstrates a reluctance to help people cut carbon-intensive consumption. It is in a unique position to guide the public in changing their behaviours, however their approach is inadequate in the face of the urgent scale of the environmental challenge.

“The Prime Minister urgently needs to set out her vision of a country where low carbon choices and behaviours can flourish.”

Key recommendations

The Committee recommends that the Government should:  

  • learn from examples of where it has enabled behaviour change, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, and enable people to make the necessary shifts in the key areas of how we travel, what we eat, what we buy and how we use energy at home 
  • launch a public engagement campaign to build support for helping people to adopt new technologies and reduce carbon-intensive consumption in the key areas where behaviour change is required 
  • help the public to reduce carbon and resource-intensive consumption in diets, products, services and travel
  • use the Net Zero Forum, announced in October 2021, to address the coordination, resourcing and responsibilities between local and central government, recognising the key role of local authorities in helping enable behaviour change in local communities
  • use every lever the Government has–including regulations and fiscal incentives and disincentives–to address the barriers which prevent changing behaviours
  • place fairness at the heart of policy design and tailor behaviour change interventions to avoid placing a burden on those who can least afford it. For example, providing financing support for low-income households as part of a national drive to improve the energy efficiency of our homes.