By Lucy Ashton
The SNP government must address spiralling number of incidents involving ambulance equipment failures before lives are lost, Scottish Labour has warned.
The number of incidents involving ambulance equipment and equipment failures tripled in five years, according to FOIs obtained by Scottish Labour.
In 2023, there were 1,826 such incidents alone – meaning that on average, there were five incidents every day.
Jackie Baillie, right, Scottish Labour’s Spokesperson for Health, said: “Ambulances race through streets to rescue us at our time of greatest need.
“It’s tragic to think this incredible effort could be put in doubt by something as simple as an equipment failure, but these figures show that such incidents are becoming all too frequent.
“The SNP Government must deal with this ambulance equipment meltdown – it’s a matter of life or death.”
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Calendar Year
|
Incidents on Scottish Ambulance Service Datix under ‘Equipment Related/Failure’
|
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2018
|
553
|
|
2019
|
690
|
|
2020
|
747
|
|
2021
|
1463
|
|
2022
|
1,681
|
|
2023
|
1,826
|
Source: Scottish Labour FOIs