Ambulance staff shortages means patients being left in lurch

Staffing issues are leading to a rising number of patients being left in the lurch because of a lack of transport to take them for appointments, ambulance bosses have admitted.

The service is to implement a new pilot plan to try and reduce a rising number of pre-booked trips which are later cancelled across the Highlands.

But a Sutherland councillor has warned that the service is reaching a “tipping point” for patients in remote parts of the Highlands, particularly when combined with proposed changes to out of hours medical provision.

Holidays and sickness among ambulance staff and a limited relief capacity has been blamed for the issue.

The issue is most acute in Caithness, Skye & Lochalsh and the Ullapool area, where up to 13% of all planned journeys between April and Agust this year have had to be cancelled.

Ambulance bosses have admitted that cancellations are likely to increase in the short term because of a reduction in the number of ambulance care assistants

Councillor Linda Munro, North, West and Central Sutherland, said: “Patient transport is an extremely serious issue for people up here because we don’t have the public transport so if there is a cancellation then there is nothing to fall back on.” She added: “It’s going to get to a tipping point fairly soon and Scottish ministers are going to have to take a serious look at this area because problems like patient transport and out of hours care will all add up.”

The cancellations concern pre-booked patient transport to appointments and for hospital treatment rather than emergency ambulances.

In the Ullapool area 13.33% of all trips were cancelled, while 12.73% in Caithness were called off.

At the opposite end of the scale Tain has the least cancellations with just 1.18% of journeys being called of.

Inverness where the most trips are made, had 2.25% cancelled.