A patient group has claimed a grandad’s hour-long wait for an ambulance was down to a lack of GPs.
John Maskame fell from his electric scooter near Peterhead Academy but was left in “agony” after waiting for help for 54 minutes.
The 81-year-old’s son, William, said a doctor arrived after almost an hour and an ambulance followed around 30 minutes later.
Mr Maskame was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with a broken hip and the ambulance service have apologised to him for the delay.
But last night Professor Jamie Weir, from Patient Action Coordination Team (PACT), claimed the incident could be put down to a shortage of general practitioners.
He said: “We would assume that the ambulance that is based in Peterhead was on another call and may have been some distance away.
“A single incidence whilst very unfortunate for the patient concerned may not reflect the overall response times.
“However like all other services in the north-east, the continued lack of funding and resources has led to other such situations, and similar to both primary and secondary care, the ambulance service is markedly over-stretched.
“The lack of GP’s in Grampian has serious consequences and played a part in this gentleman’s predicament.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian pointed to official figures that show there are eight GPs for every 10,000 registered patients in the north-east, but admitted bringing in new medics has been “challenging.”
She said: “There is no doubt that GP recruitment in Grampian continues to be challenging, as it is nationally.
“We put a lot of effort into non-traditional recruitment methods to promote the north-east as an ideal place to live and work to people based outwith our area.
“Those methods have attracted a lot of attention from potential candidates, particularly on social media.
“Some areas still face difficulties when vacancies arise and we are committed to doing everything we can to support independent GP practices recruit.”
Meanwhile, a north-east MP hopes the area can benefit from an ambulance service pledge to recruit 1,000 extra paramedics.
Banff and Buchan member David Duguid said: “We are told that 1,000 new paramedics are being recruited across Scotland in the next five years.
“That is welcome, but should have happened much earlier and I will be looking for assurances that Banff and Buchan does not miss out.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman did not respond to Mr Duguid’s call directly.
However, she said: “We are currently in the process of training and recruiting an additional 1,000 paramedics over five years which will further enhance our cover across Scotland.”
