Galway Bay fm newsroom - UHG spent over half a million euro on private ambulances last year - a 25 per cent increase on the last four years.
The new figures show that 511 thousand euro was spent on private operators by the hospital in 2018 - compared to just over 400 thousand in 2014.
Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe recorded a bill of over 296 thousand euro - almost doubling in the last four years.
Private operators are used by the HSE to provide patient transport in rural areas.
Nationally, over 9 million euro was spent by the health authority on private ambulances last year.
Letterkenny Hospital had the biggest bill, spending over 1 million euro.
The figured were provided to Sinn Féin TD Louise Ó Reilly in response to a Parliamentary Question. For more on this story tune in to Galway Bay fm news on the hour...
