Release Date :  Wednesday 13 January 2010

Response times for ambulances in Scotland are improving as ice and snow starts to melt in many parts of the country. 

Ambulances are currently responding to over 70 percent of life threatening calls in eight minutes, which is an improvement on the same period last week, when the figure was 65.3 percent. This translates into an average response time for all life threatening calls in Scotland of seven minutes and 18 seconds currently.

In some areas of the country snow and ice are continuing to make operations very challenging which may mean that those with less serious conditions wait longer. At times, Ambulance crews have battled through almost impossible conditions to reach patients and save lives.

The Patient Transport Service is working closely with Health Boards to support discharges and free up hospital beds and will continue to operate contingency plans where appropriate. 

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said:
“The recent thaw in many parts of the country has resulted in an improvement in response times and we expect this to continue if milder conditions continue to prevail. In every area of our operations our staff have been prepared to go the extra mile to help patients and deserve full credit for maintaining the service, despite such extreme conditions. We will continue to prioritise responses to ensure that those that have most need receive the fastest response.”

Recent Category A (life threatening) performance for Scotland:

• Saturday 9 January –  61.3%
• Sunday 10 January –  67.3%
• Monday 11 January –  70.2%
• Tuesday 12 January – 70.4%