First Minister Humza Yousaf says ambulance waits outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary are “simply not acceptable” and cannot be justified.
As many as 18 ambulances – up to half the north-east’s fleet – were seen queuing outside the city’s flagship hospital on Monday night.
It follows similar scenes in December as patients faced waits of several hours with ambulances stacking up outside the the hospital.
And just weeks ago, a Dyce shop owner was forced to take his “almost unconscious” and bleeding employee to the hospital himself after a robbery.
He was told an ambulance wouldn’t arrive for four hours and to make the journey with his staff member himself.
‘Simply not acceptable’
The SNP leader was asked about the high profile pressures by North East Tory MSP Tess White during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday.
He said the level of ambulance waits at ARI in particular are “simply not acceptable”.
The former health secretary told MSPs there is “no reason that can justify that level of wait”.
He added: “I’ve been extremely concerned about the reports that we’ve heard from paramedics directly.”
The first minister promised he would ensure Health Secretary Neil Gray writes to Ms White with “full details” of the talks he is having with NHS Grampian.
The health board is taking steps to address the problems including recently opening 32 new acute beds to ease pressures.
NHS Grampian previously said their hospitals are under “sustained pressure” due to the volume of acutely ill patients, delayed discharges and staffing pressures.
Mr Yousaf added: “I’m not happy at all I have to say about the continued long ambulance turnaround times at ARI in particular.”
‘Lack of exposure to emergency calls’
After the recent pressures on Monday night, a source told the P&J “too many people are going to hospital, and it doesn’t have enough beds”.
They added: “I don’t want to scare members of the public, but the reality is, there’s a significant lack of exposure to emergency calls.”
ARI saw Scotland’s longest ambulance turnaround time over the past year.
Speaking after the exchange, Ms White said: “Humza Yousaf has a nerve to say he’s not happy with the situation at ARI when these problems were also happening during his woeful tenure as health secretary.
“It’s his and successive SNP health secretaries’ dire workforce planning which has left Aberdeen’s A&E department hopelessly overstretched.”
‘Influx’ of seriously ill patients
An NHS Grampian spokesman apologised to patients impacted by waits.
He added: “During periods of intense pressure, cases are triaged as normal with those facing life-threatening situations – such as heart attacks or strokes – continuing to be admitted rapidly for life-saving treatment as an absolute priority.
“The very nature of unscheduled care is it has peaks and troughs of activity. These vary hour-by-hour and day-by-day.
“Monday, unfortunately, saw an influx several seriously ill patients, several requiring intensive care and resuscitation care, in a short period, leading to ambulance waits.
“This led to a peak of 16 ambulances waiting outside, with patients, in the evening. For several hours earlier in the day the number of ambulances waiting was zero.
“For comparison, Wednesday saw the highest number waiting outside ED at three, again with a low of zero.
“We have regular meetings with our Scottish Ambulance Service colleagues and are working on a joint plan to improve ambulance waits.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We are experiencing significant pressure on our services due to lengthy hospital turnaround times at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. These waits prevent our crews from getting back out on the road to treat other patients and we are working closely with NHS Grampian to improve the current situation.”
Conversation