And the Parliament’s powerful Audit Committee has responded by announcing that it will investigate the NAO’s findings early in the new year.

Audit Committee convener Andrew Welsh said:

"This NAO report represents a major study into the speed and effectiveness of ‘999’ emergency ambulance services in Scotland. While the report finds a wide range of response times across the whole of Scotland, we are pleased that most areas compare favourably with the rest of Britain.

"Nevertheless, there does appear to be certain performance aspects which should be improved upon and our committee will want to look at those closely. The report highlights that response target times are being missed, not only in remote parts of Scotland, but in busy populous areas such as Glasgow and Lothian.

"According to the NAO, Glasgow has the greatest scope for improvement in response times, but its ambulance crews are already amongst the busiest in Britain. We will also want consider whether better use of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s resources could be made by prioritising the deployment of crews to deal with life threatening situations first.

"Although the committee will be focussing on the NAO’s report, we hope to introduce a new approach to work of this nature. While it is practically unheard of for Westminster’s Public Accounts Committee to go out on the road, we plan to visit the Scottish Ambulance Service, to see for ourselves ambulance crews in operation.

"By talking with those in the front line of this vital emergency service, we hope to understand better ways in which performance can be improved. In the more traditional fashion, we will, of course, want the Chief Executive of the service to appear before the committee to give evidence directly to Parliament."

Further details of the committee’s investigation will be announced early in the new year.

BACKGROUND NOTES

The National Audit Office news release accompanying the publication of the Scottish Ambulance Service report is available on the NAO website at www.open.gov.uk/nao/pn.htm

The Audit Committee’s membership is as follows: