Ambulance crews hit by surge in delays at hospitals

SOARING numbers of ambulances are facing delays of one hour or more when dropping off patients at hospital.

Figures show the daily average number of ambulances facing a delay of one hour or more between arriving at hospitals and getting back on the road has more than doubled since 2016.

In the year to the end of September, 11,730 ambulances faced a ‘turnaround time’ of more than 60 minutes, giving a daily average of 43. This compares to 36 in 2018, when 13,010 delays of one hour or more were recorded.

The figure is also up substantially on a daily average of 20 a day in 2016, when 7,215 ambulances had a turnaround time of more than one hour.

There is a 20-minute target for turnarounds, with paramedics expected to hand patients over, fill in forms, then clean the vehicle. Scottish Tory health spokes

‘Performance has slipped’

man Miles Briggs said: ‘It’s clearly stated that turnaround times should be around 20 minutes but the hospitals just aren’t set up to make that happen.

‘The last thing ambulance workers want is to be hanging around a hospital when they could be out on the roads responding to emergencies. Performance in this has slipped on the SNP Government’s watch.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We have invested additional funding to place ambulance liaison officers in hospitals to reduce delays with ambulance turnaround times and help improve patient flow. We have invested almost £900million in the ambulance service in the last four years.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: ‘We’re committed to keeping turnaround times to a minimum and are working to reduce delays.’