Lengthy ambulance turnaround times putting lives at risk, says Labour
Lives could be lost as a result of long waits for patients in ambulances outside Scotland’s hospitals, Labour has warned as new figures obtained by the party showed an eight-fold increase in the number of ambulances with turnaround times of over four hours.
Freedom of Information data showed there were 24,740 occasions where ambulances had a turnaround time of more than two hours in 2022 – up from 7,134 the previous year.
Meanwhile, there were 4,336 times when ambulances had to spend four hours or more outside hospital, up from 510 in 2021.
The longest time an ambulance had to wait was 1,012 minutes and 55 seconds – almost 17 hours – at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock.
Another ambulance waited 877 minutes – about 14-and-a-half hours – outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “These shocking figures show the true extent of the crisis facing our NHS.
“This is the worst it has ever been and not enough is being done to fix it.”
She demanded action from the Health Secretary, saying: “Under Humza Yousaf’s watch we’ve had growing queues at A&Es for treatment, with ambulances off the road for hours trying to drop off patients. This is simply unacceptable.
“Every single one of these waits represents a patient unable to get a bed, whilst another one is stuck waiting at home for an ambulance that will take hours to come.
“It is disgraceful that our ambulances and paramedics are trapped in backlogs at understaffed and overstretched hospitals – and it is costing lives.
“The SNP cannot even get the basics right.”
Ms Baillie added: “We need action to tackle this crisis not more warm words. It’s time to sort out delayed discharge to free up hospital capacity and consider limits on turnaround times before lives are lost due to SNP inaction.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “Our latest statistics show that the median time for hospital turnarounds across Scotland is 41 minutes, 51 seconds.
“We continue to work alongside our colleagues in NHS boards to reduce ambulance delays through joint escalation plans. We have also deployed hospital ambulance liaison officers to help with hospital flow.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The delayed handover of patients at hospitals is not unique to Scotland, with similar pressures being felt throughout the UK.
“Patient safety and patient experience remain our priority.
“That’s why we have spent £50 million to support the implementation of a range of measures to drive down A&E waiting times and improve flow through the system to reduce any delays for ambulance crews handing over patients.”