SNP Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has been forced to apologise to patients let down by lengthy ambulance waiting times in Scotland’s NHS.
At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the ambulance service was in “crisis” and waiting times were “scandalous”.
He highlighted a Scottish Conservative Freedom of Information request which found that ambulances were stuck waiting outside hospitals for up to 15 hours.
The FOI response also revealed that response times for purple calls for the most life-threatening situations are as high as an hour – far above the target time of six minutes.
Douglas Ross also cited figures released yesterday which show that one in every 10 ambulances in Scotland sat outside hospitals for hours waiting for patients to be admitted.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “Ambulances are backed up for hours outside hospitals because of systemic problems in Scotland’s NHS.
“It’s incredibly worrying that, in just one week, 700 ambulances across the country were stuck outside hospitals for several hours.
“Turnaround times for ambulances outside hospitals are some of the worst on record. It is scandalous that some ambulances are stuck waiting for up to 15 hours.
“The Deputy First Minister broke a promise to end delayed discharge and the consequence is not enough beds in our hospitals. That failure is causing delays throughout the NHS.
“Ambulance waiting times for the most dangerous, life-threatening situations are shocking. Some people are being forced to wait ten times longer than the target response time.
“Frontline NHS staff say that morale is at an all-time low because they can’t give patients the care they deserve.
“The SNP need to get a grip on spiralling ambulance waiting times before more lives are lost.
“An apology for patients is welcome but patients in Scotland’s NHS need more than warm words from the government. They need action.”