Ambulance services in Fife are operating beyond stretching point putting massive stress on staff and failing patients.
I have written to the new Health Secretary Neil Gray MSP calling for a review of ambulance services across the Kingdom.
In the letter I highlighted the case of a lady in her 80s who had to wait 5 hours for an ambulance after having a serious fall. The situation is worrying and must be addressed.
My constituent in her 80s with underlying health issues fell and was in serious pain, an ambulance was called and repeated calls were made to the ambulance service and the hospital but the ambulance did not arrive until 5 hours later at one o clock in the morning.
There is a trend of ambulances being lined up at the hospital waiting to get patients in whilst people wait hours and hours when in need.
My concern over delays in ambulance and waiting times at hospitals was raised directly with NHS Fife chiefs at a recent politicians meeting.
When the issue was raised direct with NHS Fife the CEO suggested this was down to ambulance staff taking a coffee break when at the hospital and this was why there lots of ambulances outside the hospital. I challenged this view as being incorrect and I have once again raised the issue direct with NHS Fife who need to get on top of the admissions issues causing much of the delays.
I want to see a review of ambulance capacity in Fife as I am also told we have ambulances having to travel from much farther afield to cover and this also leads to greater delays getting to those who are in need of the service.
The Scottish government and the executives in charge of our NHS in Fife must address these concerns and ensure that the ambulance cover in Fife is at a level that can respond when people are in desperate need of medical support.
