Concerns over increasing wait times for ambulances in rural parts of Aberdeenshire
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New figures on ambulance waiting times for last year show that critically ill patients in some parts of Aberdeenshire waited nearly three times as long as those in other parts of the north-east.
Seriously ill patients in areas including Huntly, Turriff and Aboyne saw response times of around15 minutes when the service currently has a target time of eight minutes.
Patients with a suspected life-threatening condition who are identified as having a 10 per cent or more chance of cardiac arrest are classified as code purple
Figures quoted show that it was patients in Aboyne who faced the longest waits for a response on site, with an average of 21 minutes and 24 seconds for the five noted incidents.
The longest ambulance wait times in the north and north-east - Aboyne: 21min 24sec; Turriff: 17.29; Huntly: 15.01; Macduff: 14.13 and Buckie: 12.20.
The fastest average ambulance response times in north and north-east - Aberdeen: 5.59; Elgin: 6.15 and Inverness: 6.37.
An ambulance service spokeswoman clarified for Aboyne: “The response time stated is an average of five calls received in the period out of 608 across Aberdeenshire.
“We measure call times from the start of the initial call, and this has increased the overall average response time.
“We continually look for ways to improve our response times and following investment from the Scottish Government, 64 new staff were introduced across the Grampian region as well as three new ambulances and a new station in Aberdeen.”
Ambulance response times in Turriff have been improving but were still second worst in the region according to the figures which showed they have been reduced to around 17 minutes from previously noted ones of 21 minutes.
Hunly patients saw their response time at just over 15 minutes, a slight increase in 2022's average of 14.38, but almost double the time back in 2019 when the average was 8.33.
Patients in Macduff saw times rise from over eight minutes in 2022 to around 14 minutes while Banff improved from 13.21 to 9.04 and Ellon held at just under 10 minutes as in the previous year.
There were also better response times noted for Inverurie which improved from 11.45 to 9.21.
The fastest response time for seriously ill patients was in Aberdeen where the average response was just under six minutes but is still not an indication of admission into hospital, with ARI once again being noted for stacking ambulances outside last month.
The ambulance waiting times were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives after a freedom of information request.
MSP for Aberdeenshire West Alexander Burnett said: “These figures are a shocking reflection of the scale of the crisis facing the Scottish Ambulance Service and highlight an incredibly worrying trend for rural patients living in areas.
“For patients suffering strokes or heart attacks, minutes could be the difference between life and death.”
