Ambulances waiting outside Scottish hospitals for up to 18 hours

Two of the longest waits were at hospitals in Lanarkshire | contributed

Ambulances are being forced to wait outside Scottish hospitals for as long as 18 hours before being sent out again, new figures reveal.

Freedom of Information data showed the longest ambulance turnaround time so far this year was 18 hours and 18 minutes at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie.

The next longest was also in North Lanarkshire with a 17 hours and 25 minute wait at Wishaw Hospital. Ayr Hospital had a wait of 14 hours and three minutes.

Every major hospital in Scotland has already had at least one turnaround time of over an hour this year and eight hospitals experienced turnaround times of over 12 hours.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said the turnaround times were “happening because hospitals are full – there is simply no room to admit patients in a timely manner.”

Ambulance turnaround times tell us how long an ambulance spends at a hospital before being deployed again.

This can include cases where patients have to wait in ambulances because there are not any beds available in the hospital.

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Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock’s longest wait was 13 hours and 43 minutes, while Glasgow Royal Infirmary had a wait of 13 hours and 20 minutes.

Raigmore Hospital in Inverness’ longest turnaround time was 12 hours and 56 minutes, while Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride had a wait of 12 hours and 24 minutes.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s longest wait was 12 hours and 21 minutes.

Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “These deeply worrying figures show patients are being let down on the SNP’s watch.

“While patients are waiting for help, ambulances are stuck outside hospitals for hours on end.

“These long waits are a sign of the dangerous amount of pressure on our overstretched hospitals.

“We need action to support hospitals and give patients the ambulance service they deserve – tackling delayed discharge to free up beds, fixing the crisis in A&E and properly supporting hardworking NHS staff.”

Some hospitals - mostly more rural ones - had much shorter waiting times.

The longest wait at Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick was one hour and 27 minutes, while it was one hour and 58 minutes at Galloway Community Hospital in Stranraer.

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Belford Hospital in Fort William’s longest wait was two hours and 16 minutes. Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital’s was two hours and 29 minutes, while Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall’s longest turnaround was two hours and 33 minutes.

Western Isles Hospital and Perth Royal Infirmary’s longest turnaround times were also under three hours.

Dr Jayne McLaren, Vice Chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Scotland, said: "Ambulance handover delays of this length are deeply concerning and are a stark reminder of the pressure emergency care services across Scotland continue to face.

“This is happening because hospitals are full – there is simply no room to admit patients in a timely manner. This is bad for emergency department (ED) patients who often experience undignified waits on trolleys in corridors, and we know that longer waits are associated with increased mortality, but also those waiting care in ambulances who cannot even be transferred to the ED.

“That’s to say nothing of the fact that these ambulances cannot then get back out into the community to potentially save the lives of other people experiencing emergencies.

"Our hospitals are operating beyond capacity and experiencing poor patient flow throughout the wider health and social care system. Until patients can be admitted to wards promptly and those who are medically fit to leave hospital can be discharged without unnecessary delay, emergency departments and ambulance services will remain under immense strain.

"We need sustained action across the whole system to improve patient flow, increase capacity and ensure patients can access the emergency care they need, when they need it."

A spokesperson from the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We continue to experience significant pressure on our services due to lengthy hospital turnaround times at a number of hospital sites across Scotland.

“These waits prevent our crews from getting back out on the road to treat other patients, and we are working closely with health boards to support their efforts to improve the situation.”

An NHS Lanarkshire spokesperson said: “We fully acknowledge the pressures on our A&E departments and remain committed to strengthening our partnership working with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

“This partnership has enabled Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers (HALOs) to be embedded within our hospitals. HALOs provide a direct link between the SAS and NHS Lanarkshire with the aim to improve ambulance turnaround times and reducing patient offload delays.”

Health Secretary Angela Constance said: “A&E departments continue to experience significant pressure, this is not unique to Scotland with other UK nations facing similar demands. However, I am clear that it is unacceptable for patients to be waiting too long to receive the care they need and that is why in the first 100 days of Government we will be bringing forward a new national plan for hospital flow.

“This will see us bring together the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and health boards to build on the important work already being done to reduce waits for patients, reduce people going to hospital unnecessarily and ease A&E pressures. For example, we’ve already introduced new frailty units for every A&E department and we’ve increased the number of paramedics in Scotland to a record high.”