The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Military move ‘must not be a smokescreen’
Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to call in military help to assist the overstretched Scottish ambulance service has been welcomed by alarmed MSPs – who warned it must not be a smokescreen for government failure.
On Thursday, the first minister announced she had called the military in to deal with out-of-control ambulance waiting times, after emergency workers started dealing with around 10,000 more calls a month than the same time last summer.
A number of people have endured excruciatingly long waits for an ambulance – including a 65-year-old man who died after a 40hour wait for an ambulance.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a GP and the Conservatives’ shadow health minister, and Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said they’re pleased the Army is involved but say more should have been done earlier to stop the problem getting so bad.
Dr Gulhane said: “I am not against the Army being recruited, I am in favour of that.
“In 2018 I called an ambulance for a patient of mine and it took eight hours for the ambulance to arrive, so this is not a new problem for the government or the ambulance service.”
He added: “The SNP government is using Covid as a smokescreen for everything.
“We need to get waiting lists down, get hospitals seeing patients again, because that is causing a huge demand on GPs.
“On Monday I saw 80 patients, and that is not safe or sustainable, and it causes patients to overspill into A&E.”
Ms Baillie added: “I very much welcome the involvement of the British Army, but it demonstrates the ambulance service and the NHS is in crisis, well before the winter starts.
“The government has taken its eye off the ball and should have acted earlier. Long delays were happening in late June, and I met with the ambulance service in July about this and wrote to the health secretary, so he knew about these long delays and took three months to act.”
The pair criticised Health Secretary Humza Yousaf for comments he made earlier in the week when he warned the public to “think twice” before calling 999 for an ambulance.
Ms Baillie said: “It is hugely irresponsible for the health secretary to tell people to think twice and shame them into not phoning for an ambulance when they are in dire need.”
On Thursday, Ms Sturgeon insisted services are facing “acute pressure” because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said “targeted military assistance” was being considered to help ease the pressures and the Ministry of Defence confirmed hours later it had received a request from the Scottish Government under the Military Aid to Civilian Authority process.