NHS FIFE has spent more than £1 million on taxi fares for patients over the past three years. 

Although significantly lower than previous years, figures have revealed that the health board has spent just under £300,000 on private hire vehicles for patients in the past financial year. 

At Dunfermline's Queen Margaret Hospital, private taxi hire has cost £106,048 over the last three years and at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, £549,093 was spent. 

The board say providing private taxis are a way of benefitting patients when it's the most appropriate method of transport to use, but a campaign group said that taxpayers would be angry to hear that their money was not being spent on more vital services. 

James Price, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers will be aggrieved to realise that more than £1 million of their money is being used, not on life-saving cancer drugs or A&E, but on ferrying people around in taxis. 

"The lack of a defined rule about who qualifies for taxis, rather than the fleet of buses (or even public transport) is most worrying and seems like a system that is open to misuse. 

"Fife should clarify the rules for who is allowed a taxi, and there should be more scrutiny of their spending so that money is spent where it can actually help the sick."

NHS Fife's website states that bus fares can be claimed by patients, including those who receive Jobseekers' Allowance and Family Tax Credit, but no mention is made of how to claim taxi fares.

NHS Fife director of finance Carol Potter said: “There are instances when patients who require care and need help with transport are more appropriately served by the use of private taxis.

"Criteria taken into account includes patients (or partner) being in receipt of certain benefits eg income support, pension credit guarantee credit.

“The use of taxis also allows flexibility in transporting, where appropriate, some patients’ home more quickly instead of waiting for other transport. This benefits the patient and the service.”