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Wait for ambulances doubles for Banff residents


By Kyle Ritchie

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Residents in Banff are waiting almost twice as long for an ambulance as those in other parts of the region, new figures have revealed.

Performance statistics from the Scottish Ambulance Service highlight the challenges facing areas across the north-east.

In life-threatening situations in 2020, the average length of time taken to respond to a 999 call from Banff was almost 13 minutes.

Residents in Banff are waiting almost twice as long for an ambulance as those in other parts of the north-east region.
Residents in Banff are waiting almost twice as long for an ambulance as those in other parts of the north-east region.

The figure for the town has risen by more than five minutes since 2008 when it had an average of seven minutes 30 seconds.

Other problem areas include Inverurie which took almost 11 minutes on average – a figure which has risen year on year. In the worst cases, crews took more than 20 minutes to reach patients in those areas.

In contrast, ambulances arrived in Peterhead and Fraserburgh within seven minutes.

Troup councillor and Scottish Conservative candidate for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Mark Findlater, said: “In life-threatening emergency situations, every second counts, and it’s concerning to see the impact these varying times can have on communities such as Banff.

“Our first responders do a terrific job, but the response time can often depend on the proximity of the nearest ambulance station.

“Pressure on our responders continues to grow as they contend with the impacts of Covid as well as the bad weather.

Troup councillor and Scottish Conservative candidate for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Mark Findlater.
Troup councillor and Scottish Conservative candidate for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Mark Findlater.

“This makes it all the more important to treat our ambulance service with the respect they deserve and to only call 999 if you need an ambulance.

“Nationally, eight out of 10 calls made to the ambulance service did not need an ambulance which highlights the huge strain paramedics are under.”

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "“Our staff work incredibly hard providing care and saving lives along with the additional pressures that have been experienced during the Covid pandemic.

"Response times can be affected by a range of factors, including increased infection control measures due to coronavirus, incident location, adverse weather, road conditions and hospital turnaround times but we are doing our absolute best to get to our sickest patients as quickly as we can.

“We dispatch the nearest available ambulances to our highest acuity calls and have access to a network of community first responders, air ambulances and paramedic response units.

"We are also continuing to invest in new ambulance staff, new ambulances and the latest equipment as we develop and grow our workforce at pace to respond to the demands made for our services.”


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