THE austerity-hit NHS is spending more than £1 million a week hiring private ambulances across England to attend emergency calls, Unison warns today.

The eye-watering expenditure, amounting to £167,000 a day or at least £61m a year, is a “short-term fix which benefits the pockets of private firms rather than finding a long-term solution to the crisis hitting services,” the public-sector union stressed.

The call, which coincides with the opening of Unison’s three-day annual health conference in Bournemouth, came after Labour slammed Tory Party chairman Greg Hands for claiming public services are in “good shape” yesterday. 

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The Conservatives seem to think we’ve never had it so good — what planet are they living on?”

According to Unison’s analysis of official figures, North West Ambulance Service spent more than £15m in 2022 on private emergency services, while over the last financial year, South Central bosses forked out a whopping £19m. 

More than a dozen private companies are being brought in to fill widening gaps in services and to meet response times amid overwhelming demand, it charged.

The labour movement has repeatedly warned that falling take-home wages are driving a worker exodus from the sector as a crippled social care system is clogging up hospital beds, in turn leaving ambulances queuing up outside hospitals unable to discharge patients or attend other calls.

The “failing approach means that millions of pounds of public money are going into the pockets of private firms rather than being invested in more highly trained ambulance staff and better ambulances,” the union said.

It noted that the cash comes from one-off government “crisis management” payments that are not guaranteed from year to year, deterring some trusts from investing in their own additional NHS vehicles and staff because of the ongoing costs incurred.   

Private companies are “capitalising on the crisis by tempting paramedics and other crew away from NHS work” with more lucrative contracts which may not include sick pay and pensions, Unison added.

Head of health Sara Gorton said: “This spend on private 999 services shows a lack of long-term planning and is a shocking waste of money — it’s nothing more than a sticking-plaster solution.

“Ambulance services are in a desperate state because the government has failed to invest long term.

“Patients are waiting ages for help to arrive or worse still dying before crews can reach them.

“Others are stuck in emergency vehicles outside hospitals for hours and hours on end waiting for a bed.

“This is a crisis of the government’s own making that can only be resolved with a long-term plan.”

Ms Gorton demanded ministers “step up and come up with proper funding to tackle increasing demand and pay staff properly.”

The call came after LBC Radio host Andrew Castle branded as “absolutely extraordinary” a claim from Mr Hands during their interview that “record numbers of nurses and doctors shows that our excellent public services are in a good shape.”

Mr Streeting blasted the suggestion, saying: “Tell that to the seven million patients on NHS waiting lists, the 98 per cent of victims of rapes whose offenders weren’t charged last year and the state school children being left behind by their privately educated contemporaries.

“This is all the Tories have to offer — only Labour has a plan to build a better Britain.”