THE Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is set to recruit 140 more frontline staff across the West of Scotland, including Glasgow.

The news comes after reports of patients waiting in ambulances for hours before being admitted to hospital.  A mixture of paramedics, newly qualified paramedics and technicians will be in place before April 2022.

Extra ambulances will also be put in place over the coming months including two in Glasgow.

David Robertson, West Regional Director, Scottish Ambulance Service said: “This funding is great news for the Service and is allowing us to continue to increase our investment in new frontline staff, new ambulances and new vehicles at pace.

“These new resources will ensure we continue to deliver the very best patient care by boosting capacity and increasing our resilience in communities across Scotland. They’ll also complement our dedicated staff who have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months in extremely demanding circumstances.”

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: "Our ambulance staff have been at the heart of the response to the Coronavirus pandemic and we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their courage, commitment and professionalism.

"These additional resources show that this Government is determined to ensure they have the support needed to meet patient demand as the NHS continues to remobilise.

"Our recent recovery plan targeted over £1 billion of investment over the next five years across the whole health system to increase capacity and ensure the health service is ready for the challenges ahead."