Douglas Ross has warned that Scotland’s ‘unacceptable’ ambulance wait times are ‘costing lives’, as new figures show extremely high-risk patients have waited more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive.
At First Minister’s Questions the Scottish Conservative leader also raised the case of an elderly woman with a broken hip who had to take a taxi to hospital after waiting in agony for four-and-a-half hours for an ambulance.
The target response time for the most high-risk incidents, which include patients with a high risk of a heart attack, is eight minutes. But information obtained by the Scottish Conservatives shows that, so far this year, several patients in this category have waited an hour or more for an ambulance to arrive.
One patient in Ayrshire and Arran waited more than 32 hours for a less serious ‘amber incident’ – 100 times longer than the target time of 19 minutes.
Douglas Ross said the figures were ‘appalling’. He also challenged the First Minister to tackle ambulance turnaround delays, after the Scottish Conservative FOI revealed that a Glasgow patient had to wait 13 hours in an ambulance before a hospital bed became available.
The findings come after statistics released this week showed that more than 5,000 people waited over 12 hours in Scotland’s emergency departments in August.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “The SNP is presiding over the worst ever A&E waiting times in Scotland – and this is having a knock-on effect on the rest of our healthcare system.
“Freedom of Information responses have revealed the unacceptable time that people across Scotland are waiting for ambulances to arrive in an emergency.
“On Monday, both the First Minister and I received an email from a 78-year old man explaining what recently happened to his 73-year-old wife.
“She fell in their garden and broke her hip. She was in agony but was told a broken hip didn’t constitute a ‘priority’. She waited for four-and-a-half hours lying on the garden path in severe pain and distress until eventually being forced to take a taxi to the hospital.
“The situation is appalling and it’s happening far too often all over the country.
“We found that one individual from Ayrshire and Arran waited more than 32 hours for an ambulance – 100 times longer than the target time.
“And the situation is worse for those facing the most serious emergencies, for which the target response time is eight minutes.
“This summer, one patient in the Lothians waited two hours for an ambulance. Another in Glasgow waited more than an hour and a half, and others have waited around an hour in Lanarkshire, Forth Valley, in the Highlands, in Ayrshire and in Shetland.
“And even when you arrive at A&E, you may be left waiting even longer at the hospital doors. In Glasgow earlier this year, one ambulance was stuck outside the hospital for more than 13 hours because the patient could not be admitted.
“These unacceptable waiting times are costing lives. In the words of a concerned 78 year-old husband, the SNP Government should ‘hang their heads in shame’.”
Notes:
This year, someone in Ayrshire and Arran had to wait more than 30 hours for an ambulance. In June, someone in Ayrshire and Arran was forced to wait 1,974 minutes, 57 seconds for an ambulance to arrive. This was for an amber incident, which are deemed to be serious but not life threatening. The target is 19 minutes, meaning that individual was forced to wait in excess of 100 times longer than they should have done (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
This year, someone in the most serious category was forced to wait two hours for an ambulance in Lothian. In June, someone in Lothian had to wait 119 minutes, 26 seconds for an ambulance to arrive. This was for a purple incident – the most serious – where a patient is identified as having a 10% or more chance of having a cardiac arrest. The actual cardiac arrest rate across this category is approximately 53%. The target is eight minutes, meaning that individual was forced to wait nearly 15 times longer than they should have done (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
This year, purple patients in several health boards have been forced to wait around an one hour or more for an ambulance. In Ayrshire and Arran someone waited 79 minutes, 22 seconds in April. In Forth Valley someone waited 62 minutes, four seconds in February. In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, someone waited 105 minutes, seven seconds in June. In Highland, someone waited 72 minutes, seven seconds in May. In Lanarkshire, someone waited 56 minutes, 29 seconds in May. In Lothian, someone waited 119 minutes, 26 seconds in June. And in Shetland, someone waited 57 minutes, 29 seconds in May (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
This year, one ambulance in Greater Glasgow and Clyde was unable to hand their patient over for more than 13 hours. In March this year, one ambulance in Greater Glasgow and Clyde was stuck outside the hospital for 799 minutes, unable to hand their patient over to the hospital. This happens when the hospital does not have enough capacity to admit the patient. It means the ambulance cannot get back on the road to respond to other emergencies (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).