EMAS Pays Private Ambulance Firms Nearly £40m In Less Than Three Years

East Midlands Ambulance Service has paid private companies nearly £40m in less than three years to respond to emergency calls.

Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information request by Harborough health campaigner Phil Knowles show the amount has been gradually rising since 2020.

In 2020 EMAS paid private ambulance firms £11m, in 2021 it increased to £13.1m and between April and December last year the amount was £13.5m.

Cllr Knowles spoke to HFM:

Private firms have been drafted into support East Midlands Ambulance Service

EMAS says it is working hard to recruit and train new frontline ambulance crews, to maximise the number available to respond to patients in the community, at a time 999 calls are increasing.

In December it responded to more incidents than at any point over the last three years.

John Wright, Assistant Director of Operations at East Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We use private and voluntary ambulance providers resources to support during periods of intense demand in the wider health system to help us provide the best possible service to the public.”