Yousaf ‘fails to deliver on ambulance promises’
THE beleaguered Health Secretary has failed to deliver on a string of promises to implement emergency measures to tackle Scotland’s ambulance crisis.
Humza Yousaf pledged immediate action after seriously ill patients were forced to wait hours for help as emergency vehicles queued outside A&E departments.
Just last month, he insisted new staff would be hired to improve patient flow and said hospitals would be repurposed ‘with immediate effect’ to maximise capacity at the front door.
To date, nine proposed Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers (HALOs) have yet to be recruited, with no indication when they will be in place.
In addition, paramedics claim measures Mr Yousaf announced to ease pressures at the scandal-hit Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) – Scotland’s largest – in Glasgow, have foundered because of staff shortages.
Meanwhile, just two of Scotland’s 14 health boards have re-organised space to create extra capacity to meet recent demands. The revelation heaps further pressure on the beleaguered Health Secretary amid a spiralling health crisis, with operations cancelled, soaring waiting times for treatment, record numbers waiting to see a specialist, too few consultants and nursing vacancies at an all-time high.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: ‘The situation at the country’s largest hospital is critical. This is yet another crisis Humza Yousaf has failed to get a grip of. It is astounding that resources aren’t even in place to get this small amount of extra beds into the frontline at the Queen Elizabeth.’
Paramedics had demanded action on turnaround times, amid fears over patient safety.
Cancer survivor Gerard Brown, 65, from Glasgow, died after an alleged 40-hour wait for an ambulance. The Health Secretary said the Army would be drafted in and he promised further measures, including an immediate rise in the number of HALOs, from 11 to 20, and the repurposing of some spaces to ensure patients could be transferred more quickly from ambulances to clinical teams.
Yesterday Jamie McNamee, ambulance service convener of the Unite union, said that the Army driving ambulances did not ease queues while military drivers could not ‘blue light’ patients.
He added: ‘This has got little or nothing to do with Covid, this is a capacity issue not of our making. There is no patient flow, it’s basically grinding to a halt.’
NHS Highland has altered ward layout while NHS Fife introduced a ‘discharge lounge’ to free up beds at the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. Ayrshire & Arran, Western Isles, Borders, Tayside and Forth Valley said they had increased capacity or recruited extra staff before Mr Yousaf’s speech.
Lanarkshire directed queries to the Government while Lothian said no measures had been introduced after the announcement.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘We are working closely with colleagues with the Scottish Ambulance Service to improve the experience for patients.’
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said ‘recruitment is currently ongoing for the new HALOs and they will be in post as soon as possible. Whilst we are recruiting, other managers are supporting these roles.’
Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘All boards, where clinical handover delays are an issue, are reviewing their receiving capacity and identifying additional space.’
‘Yet another crisis he has failed to get a grip of’