Ambulance staff have overwhelmingly backed a vote of no confidence in “clueless” management covering the north-east and Highlands.
Frustrations have been growing in the workforce for the last 18 months, amid accusations of “media spin” from bosses to conceal the crisis.
Yesterday, it was revealed that 95% of Unite members supported the call to start official dispute talks with management.
Ambulance bosses insist they have invested in the region and met with staff to ease fears.
But one paramedic described the near-unanimous vote as sending a strong message about how the situation was becoming intolerable with rural services “pillaged” to prop up undermanned Aberdeen crews.
They said: “This isn’t a pay dispute, a gripe about terms and conditions or complaints about staff welfare.
“The main thing we are concerned about is patient care. We’ve got to the position now where we feel we can’t do our job due to a lack of resources.
“We’ve gone through the processes of speaking to management, but they appear to be clueless about how to solve the problems.
“It’s very frustrating doing this job and arriving at patients sometimes an hour after they have phoned – it’s now common to drive 50 miles to an emergency.”
Fears about the level of ambulance cover in Moray have been growing following a string of revelations.
Last month, it emerged Elgin had been left without any ambulance cover after a man was hit by a lorry just yards from Dr Gray’s Hospital – and only the “chance” intervention of a crew from Buckie, dropping a patient off at accident and emergency allowed the victim to receive immediate care before dying four days later.
Unite regional officer Tommy Campbell said: “The result doesn’t surprise me at all given the extent of contact we have had with members over the last 18 months.
“The message is loud and clear – enough is enough. We will now raise these concerns through the official disputes procedure.”
Talks will now be held between union representatives and ambulance service bosses to find a way to address the problems.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead added: “It’s clear that the service is under pressure – this vote is a sign staff are losing patience.
“We owe a huge debt to our ambulance crews and their bosses need to listen to their concerns and respond positively.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We have invested significantly in our North Division over the last few years with over 100 extra staff being recruited, 52 of these in the past year, which is an 8% increase.”