Longer delays for ambulance patients

Ambulances waited over an hour to admit patients to A&Es in Lanarkshire more than a thousand times last year.

Figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that ambulance waits of more than 60 minutes have tripled in the past three years.

The new statistics reveal Lanarkshire’s three acute hospitals – Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw – all had huge increases on their handover times.

In 2017/2018 ambulances had to wait over an hour to hand over their patient, a total of 1077 times.

That figure was 353 in 2015/2016.

Long waits were most common at Hairmyres Hospital, with ambulances waiting over an hour to hand over their patient, a total of 450 times.