NHS Grampian fails to meet emergency response time targets
NHS Grampian are not meeting their target for ambulance response times.
New figures show that North East ambulances are not quick enough in responding to emergencies.
NHS Grampian is expected to meet a national target of getting to 75% of calls within 8 minutes.
In some parts of Aberdeenshire it's as low as 40&.
The statistics show that this target has been missed repeatedly.
For Grampian, the 2015/16 figure was 68%, down from 72% in 2014/15 and 73% in 2013/14.
A breakdown by ambulance station has laid bare some of the local difficulties in reaching scenes within the allotted time.
In Huntly, Aberdeenshire, the figure for 2015/16 was just 45.5%, down from 54.7% in 2014/15 and 57% in 2013/14.
Inverurie is reported as being 59.4% last year, down from 68.1% in 2014/15 and 69.5% in 2013/14. In Keith, the figures were 54.5% for 2015/16, from 57.5% in 2014/15 and 59% in 2013/14.
Earlier this month, the Scottish Ambulance Service said it was training 1,000 new paramedics over the next five years.
Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, said: “These response time figures are clearly very worrying, with an unacceptably poor performance in rural areas covered by stations in Aberdeenshire and Angus.
“We have heard anecdotal evidence that ambulances are taking as long as half an hour or more to reach accident scenes in the North East.
“There are always a number of factors that can explain drops in performance, but it seems that the service in this area is seriously over-stretched and under-resourced.
“We welcome the announcement from the Scottish Ambulance Service that there will be more staff brought in, but we also need to be sure that we have enough stations in the right places.
“In an area the size of Grampian, journey times can be challenging, but the public need to be reassured that if they call 999, help will be on its way as quickly as possible.”