Last night James Weir, who represents the north-east patient group PACT said it was a concerning to think the cost had increased as a result of struggling resources.
He said: “It’s really quite a jump.
“The thing is, if it’s for the patient’s benefit and they’re trying to improve their services for patients then so be it, that’s fine.
“But if it’s shoring up other aspects of the health service because they’re under resourced elsewhere, then that’s not so good.
“If the service is being used to take patients between hospitals, or take them home or whatever else is necessary – such as specimen transport – then it means that other resources are lacking, and they’ve had to resort to taxi services to do it, which means there may well be a problem with the number of ambulances, staff on duty or so on.
“It could mean there are underlying problems somewhere in the system that have resulted in this particular service being used to a much greater extent than previously.”
