The true scale of Scotland’s ambulance crisis is laid bare in shocking new stats showing patients waiting up to two days for help to arrive.
Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, through freedom of information requests, show that a yellow category patient in Lothian waited 48 hours for an ambulance in May this year, while an amber category patient in Grampian faced a 22-hour delay in February.
Meanwhile, a purple category patient – those whose lives are deemed most at risk – in Glasgow was forced to wait well over four hours before an ambulance arrived in February this year.
Shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said that these delays are terrifying and potentially life-threatening for patients.
He added that paramedics are doing their best to keep patients safe, but they are being let down by incompetent SNP ministers who are stuck in the Holyrood bubble and unaware of the situation on the ground.
Dr Gulhane said that health secretary Neil Gray must get a grip on this crisis, which is a product of the SNP’s failure to tackle long ambulance turnaround times along with their disastrous workforce planning.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “It is disgraceful that patients, including some fighting for their lives, are waiting so long for an ambulance to arrive.
“Despite the best efforts of dedicated paramedics, patients are being failed by SNP ministers who are too stuck in their Holyrood bubble to fully appreciate the scale of this crisis.
“These unacceptable figures are terrifying because we know that lives are needlessly lost because of excessive waits for ambulances to arrive.
“The brutal combination of the SNP’s dreadful workforce planning and their failure to tackle ambulance stacking has caused this crisis. But Neil Gray still doesn’t have a plan to fix it and, unless and until he addresses delayed discharge in hospitals, he can never hope to do so.
“In contrast, the Scottish Conservatives have a common-sense plan to address this situation by scaling up temporary capacity, which would ensure there is always bed capacity and reduce ambulance turnaround times.”
Notes to editors
A yellow category patient in Lothian waited 48 hours for an ambulance in May 2024. Another patient in Ayrshire and Arran waited 32 hours, 43 minutes, 23 seconds in February. The longest mean response time was in Lanarkshire in January, where on average, a yellow category patient was waiting 2 hours, 46 minutes, 45 seconds. Yellow category callouts are defined by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as ‘a patient who has a need for care but has a very low likelihood of requiring life-saving interventions. For example, patients who have tripped or fallen but not sustained any serious injury.’ (Scottish Conservative FOI, Available on request).
An amber category patient in Grampian waited 22 hours, 20 minutes and 9 seconds for an ambulance in February. In March, another patient in Grampian waited 11 hours, 24 minutes and 31 seconds. The longest mean response time was in Lanarkshire in January, where on average an amber category patient was waiting 33 minutes and 44 seconds. Amber category callouts are defined by the SAS as ‘where a patient is likely to need diagnosis and transport to hospital or specialist care.’ (Scottish Conservative FOI, Available on request).
A red category patient in Greater Glasgow and Clyde waited 5 hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds for an ambulance in February. Another patient in the same health board waited 5 hours, 6 minutes and 8 seconds in July. The longest mean response time was in Orkney in January, where on average a red category patient was waiting 21 minutes 34 seconds for an ambulance. Red category callouts are defined by the SAS as ‘Where a patient is identified as having a likelihood of cardiac arrest between 1% and 9.9%, or having a need for resuscitation interventions such as airway management above 2%.’ (Scottish Conservative FOI, Available on request).
A purple category patient in Greater Glasgow and Clyde waited 4 hours and 28 minutes for an ambulance in February. Another patient in Grampian waited 1 hour and 37 minutes in April. The longest mean response time was in Orkney in January, where on average a purple category patient was waiting 20 minutes and 6 seconds for an ambulance. Purple category call outs are defined by the SAS as ‘Our most critically ill patients. This is where a patient is identified as having a 10% or more chance of having a cardiac arrest.’ (Scottish Conservative FOI, Available on request).