Fears as ambulance first responder times double in four years
THE amount of time it takes ambulance first responders to reach emergencies has nearly doubled in four years, it has emerged.
Concerns about patient safety have been raised after a surge in response times.
It is the latest sign of growing pressure on Scotland’s ambulance service, following an internal survey which found morale among paramedics has hit ‘rock bottom’.
The Scottish Ambulance Service sends community first responders – volunteers who respond to medical emergencies while an ambulance is on its way – on motorbikes or in cars to some emergencies, particularly in rural or remote areas.
Their average response was 15 minutes, 28 seconds, in the third quarter of 2017-18, compared with ten minutes 51 seconds in the same period of 201617 and only eight minutes 49 seconds in the third quarter of 2013-14.
The figures, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives under a freedom of information request, also show huge disparities in response times across the country. In the West Central division, which covers Glasgow, it took 19 minutes two seconds for a first responder to arrive on average. That compares with 12 minutes ten seconds in the South West division.
Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell said: ‘The Scottish Ambulance Service is clearly an organisation under severe strain, and needs more support from this SNP Government.
‘A doubling in the average response time tells its own story, and it is one that will concern patients.’
While some response times were under a minute, one patient in the first quarter of 2017-18 had to wait 116 minutes for a first responder.
In the most recent quarter, the longest wait was 88 minutes, 42 seconds. The Scottish Ambulance Service pointed out that its average response time for ‘immediately life-threaten- ing cases’ was faster, at six minutes, 47 seconds.
Last year some ambulances were sent to emergencies with only a single trainee on board.
A staff survey published in November shows that 85 per cent think morale is low.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘These claims relate to community responders arriving on scene and not average ambulance response times.
‘The priority of our hard working staff continues to be on saving lives and since 2013, survival rates on arrival at hospital for cardiac arrest patients we have treated have almost doubled.’
In December, 71-year-old Michael Wilczynski waited more than three hours on the ground in Edinburgh for an ambulance after he broke his ankle.
The case of 80-year-old Tom Wilson, from Newtongrange in Midlothian, was raised at First Minister’s Questions after he waited three hours for an ambulance on New Year’s Day.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘These figures are wrong. These relate to community responders arriving on scene and not average ambulance response times.
‘The Scottish Government recognises the vital frontline role the Scottish Ambulance Service play, which is why we have provided an uplift in funding of £8.6million for 2018-19.’
‘Service under severe strain’