By Bill Heaney
A quarter of ambulances operating in Scotland are more five years old, “deeply alarming” new figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service have revealed.
Out of the 1298 ambulances with registration dates, 337 of them were registered before February 2019. One ambulance operating in Dumfries is now more than 19 years old.
A five-year business case document from the Scottish Ambulance Service confirms that the vehicles have a “short finite life” and should be replaced.
Shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane, LEFT, says that the hundreds of ageing vehicles are a “damning indictment” of the SNP’s mismanagement during 17 years in charge of Scotland’s NHS.
He says that the older the vehicle is the “greater the risk” of it breaking down, which could have potentially “deadly consequences” for patients in a critical state.
Dr Gulhane has urged SNP health secretary Neil Gray to ensure the ambulance service are always in a position to replace vehicles in a “timely manner” so that patients and frontline crews are not reliant on vehicles that are no longer “fit for purpose”.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “These deeply alarming figures paint a picture of a dangerously overstretched and under-resourced ambulance service.
“The Scottish Ambulance Service admit themselves that vehicles have a short, finite life, so it is concerning that hundreds of them who are operating across the country are now over five years old.
“That is yet another damning indictment of how the SNP have mismanaged all aspects of our health service during their 17 years in office.
“There is a real danger of older vehicles breaking down while out on emergency callouts, which could have potentially deadly consequences for patients.
“Neil Gray must urgently step up and support our dedicated ambulance crews by adopting the bold and ambitious plans we set out in our new health paper for a modern, efficient and local approach to our NHS.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service has admitted that ambulances have a “short, finite life” and should be replaced. The Scottish Ambulance Service’s ‘Full business case for the replacement of emergency, patient transport and support vehicles 2021-22 to 2025-26’ states: “The provision of services by the Scottish Ambulance Service (the Service) is dependent on reliable, well-maintained vehicles. Vehicles have a short finite life and as a result, the Service has a recurrent requirement to replace them as they come to the end of their useful life… This business case covers five years of procurement for vehicles commencing 2021-22. This is the second five-year business case for fleet replacement that the Service has developed to secure funding over the five-year period.” (Full business case for the replacement of emergency, patient transport and support vehicles 2021-22 to 2025-26, September 2020, pg. 4-5, link).
A quarter of ambulances in the Scottish Ambulance Service are over five years old. There are currently 337 out of 1,298 (there are actually 1,315 but 17 do not have registration dates) ambulances that are being used in the Scottish Ambulance Service that were registered before 22 February 2019. This means that a quarter of ambulances being used are older than five years. (Scottish Ambulance Service, Accessed 22 February 2024, link).
The oldest ambulance being used in the Scottish Ambulance Service is over 19 years old. An ambulance located in Dumfries was registered 10 February 2005. This makes it 19 years and 12 days since its registration – or 6,951 days old (at the time of research). The second oldest was registered on 11 December 2009. This makes it 14 years, 2 months and 11 days – or 5,186 days old. The joint third oldest were registered 27 July 2010. This makes them 13 years, 6 month and 26 days – or 4,958 days old. (Scottish Ambulance Service, Accessed 22 February 2024, link).
It is recommended that ambulances are replaced every five years. Fullbay, a heavy-duty repair shop management platform, states: “Light-duty chassis ambulances can expect to last 250,000 miles or five years before they need to be replaced. Careful maintenance can allow you to wait a bit longer than this timeline suggests, but you should always be extra cautious when it comes to replacing emergency vehicles.” (Fullbay, 10 August 2023, link).