Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is facing a “blue light crisis” after new figures show 10% of ambulances are facing waits of more than four hours to drop off patients.
Shock statistics reveal ambulance waiting times at ARI have almost quadrupled since 2020.
So far this year, one in 10 ambulances have sat outside Aberdeen’s flagship hospital for at least four hours and eight minutes compared to just 54 minutes in 2020.
The strain on paramedics has grown over the last five years, with 20% more call outs to transfer patients to ARI than in 2020.
At Dr Gray’s in Elgin, ambulance stacking is proving just as much of an issue, with 10% of ambulances waiting two hours and 49 minutes so far this year compared to just 39 minutes in 2020.
Conveyances have also increased by almost 30% to the hospital since 2020.
The pressure on Moray paramedics has been compounded as more than 2,500 patients have had to be taken down the A96 by ambulance to Aberdeen due to limited resources and specialist services not being available at Dr Gray’s.
Scottish Conservative MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Alexander Burnett, said: “These figures expose a blue light crisis that is plaguing ambulances across the North East.
“We are seeing the horrific impact of this on patients who, despite being in a serious condition, still can’t access an ambulance.
“Our ambulance service, as well as NHS Grampian, is in a state of crisis because successive SNP health secretaries have failed to tackle the increasing delays in our hospitals.
“That results in ambulances being backed up outside A&E and lives being put at risk.
“At a time when ambulance staff morale is at an all-time low, John Swinney and his health secretary Neil Gray must urgently get a grip of this winter ticking time bomb before lives are lost.”
