Ambulance bosses have revealed plans to enhance cover across the north-east after a shocking report said its service in Fraserburgh and Peterhead was among the worst in Scotland.
The move comes following a meeting of Scottish Ambulance Service chiefs with local MP Eilidh Whiteford and MSP Stewart Stevenson yesterday.
The SNP duo had raised concerns after paramedics took longer than 20 minutes to respond to more than 80 life-threatening incidents in the neighbouring towns last year. The response time target for these call-outs, set by the Scottish Government, is eight minutes.
Last night, an ambulance service spokesman said: “The meeting was very constructive and senior managers explained plans to enhance cover at Peterhead, upgrading the second ambulance to ful l emergency status and extending it to the equivalent of five days a week from three. In addition, a paramedic response unit has recently been stationed at Fraserburgh to enhance cover during shift changeovers.”
He added that a recruitment drive was currently underway to fill vacancies across the region and that two new ambulance technicians were to start in Banff and Fraserburgh in the coming weeks.
Mrs Whiteford welcomed the commitments which she says will relieve pressure at stations in Fraserburgh and Banff. She commented: “A fully staffed and trained service will go a long way to ensuring that residents in Banff and Buchan can come to expect improved response times.”
Mr Stevenson said: “The extra paramedic vehicle in Fraserburgh and a commitment to assess the need for a second A&E ambulance based out of Peterhead will be key in bringing response times down.”
Fraserburgh’s community safety group, chaired by local councillor Brian Topping, had also been vocal about the waiting times. Last night, Mr Topping expressed his group’s hope regarding service improvements. He said: “When we saw the headlines in the press, we were concerned. Our hope is there will be improvement and they will manage to get the staff – we’re confident that things will be rectified.
“We really appreciate the hard work of our local ambulance groups, it is a service that a lot of people don’t appreciate until their family needs it. They really need the numbers to effectively cover the whole of the north-east.”