Ambulance staff claim a quarter of 999 calls covered by Shire and Moray rigs

Aberdeen ambulances are only managing 3-quarters of the jobs assigned to crews in the Granite City.

An insider's exclusively to Northsound News staff from the Shire and as far away as Elgin in Moray are picking up the slack.

But it's claimed that's causing longer shifts for rescuers worried over so-called "dangerous" working hours – with one member of staff allegedly working up to 36 hours.

The Scottish Ambulance Service says it puts 'patients at the heart of...decision making, whilst balancing the needs and wellbeing of staff .'

Unite the union has raised serious health and safety concerns after being told of working dangerously long hours at the North Division of the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

A consultative ballot on industrial action is now being issued to the SAS membership to address the concerns.

Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell said: "It is a national scandal that some workers in the area covered by Highland and Islands, and Grampian have worked up to thirty-six hours. This is unfortunately not an unusual incident and there are many other examples of paramedics working dangerously long hours. Unite members in their determination to serve the public have had their goodwill and dedication exploited. For this reason, Unite will now move to a consultative ballot on industrial action which we hope focuses the minds of Scottish Ambulance Service management.”

Unite has previously raised concerns in relation to worker fatigue and issues around patient safety provision at NHS Highland. A survey in 2017 of ambulance workers carried out by Unite found that 54.3 per cent suffer from stress. A further 94.5 per cent have said morale has worsened. 91.4 per cent said that staffing levels were insufficient and 90.4 per cent said they were suffering from fatigue.