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How do ambulance response times compare across north-east towns and villages?

The waits for some rural patients were over three times as long as other parts of the region.

Ambulances at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary outside Accident and Emergency.
Ambulances can be seen queuing up outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary due to increased pressures on the hospital. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Average ambulance response times show some critically ill patients in the north-east wait more than three times longer than in other areas.

“Code purple” patients in Turriff saw average waits of more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to reach them, despite a national target of just eight minutes.

These are people in life-threatening conditions and are identified as having a 10% or more chance of having a cardiac arrest.

The waiting time for the town has doubled since 2019 when patients in a critical condition waited 15 minutes.

In nearby Banff, only 12 miles away, the ambulance service reached purple category patients in 14 minutes this year – less than half the time of Turriff.


The longest ambulance wait times in the north-east: 

  • Turriff: 30 min 20 sec
  • Laurencekirk: 20:13
  • Insch: 17:55
  • Aboyne: 17:28
  • Banchory: 16:19

The average response time for purple incidents in Stonehaven was eight minutes, Ellon was nine minutes, while Peterhead and Fraserburgh were 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, ambulances reached patients in Aberdeen in around five minutes and in Elgin within seven minutes.

Ambulances are often seen queuing up outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary as the health board grapples with ongoing pressures on the system.

At the end of November, bosses took drastic action and declared a critical incident, which saw ambulances redirected to Raigmore in Inverness and Ninewells in Dundee.

‘Adverse impact’ of ambulance turnaround times at ARI

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman stressed that average response times can be affected by a change in the seriousness of a patient’s condition.

But she said the ongoing pressures at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary impact on their ability to respond to critical incidents across Aberdeenshire.

“We measure response times from the moment a caller contacts us and average total response times are often increased by incidents where the patient’s condition has changed and the response has been upgraded,” she said.

15 ambulances piled up outside ARI Picture shows; Ambulances. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Image: DC Thomson.

“We acknowledge the adverse impact extended hospital turnaround times at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray’s Hospital have had across the Grampian region, which directly impact our ability to respond to critical incidents across Aberdeenshire.

“We remain committed to supporting NHS Grampian in their efforts to reduce hospital handover delays.”

Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan, who represents Turriff, said the figures are a “shocking reflection of the scale of the crisis facing the Scottish Ambulance Service”.

Harriet Cross MP. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson.

“This alarming issue is being made worse as ambulances are backed up for hours outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary”, she added.

“The ongoing closure of Turriff’s minor injuries unit and the reduced hours of others has also exacerbated this serious problem.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Patient safety remains our top priority.

“Despite continued increased levels of high priority calls, and the unique geographical challenges posed in some of Scotland’s most rural areas, crews responded to 514 of the highest priority calls across Scotland last week in an average time of 7 minutes 41 seconds.”

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