Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie and Health Minister Neil Gray.
By Lucy Ashton
Scotland’s Health Minister was quizzed by MSP Jackie Baillie in the Holyrood parliament chamber yesterday.
The Dumbarton politician demanded that Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, update the chamber on action taken to reduce the wait for ambulances outside hospitals.
It comes as data reveals that ambulances are still racking up long waits outside the country’s A&E departments.
Data from the Scottish Ambulance Service revealed that more than half of their crews were stuck on hospital forecourts for more than 45 minutes in 2025.
In 2019, just 16 percent of ambulances spent more than 45 minutes at hospitals before being redeployed.
But figures show that the number of ambulances facing waits has increased every year since.
In 2025, 55 per cent of ambulances were stuck awaiting hospital handover of patients.
Figures for January 6th until March 23rd this year, show that in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, one ambulance waited for 9 hours and 47 minutes at struggling Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. A crew were also stuck for 7 hours 14 minutes at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Meanwhile, the actual number of patients taken to hospital by ambulance fell by 9,156 between 2019 and 2024.
Ms Baillie, Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for Health, asked her opposite number to consider imposing a maximum waiting time target for patients to be transferred into hospital from ambulances.
The Cabinet Secretary declined, saying the Scottish Government had ensured improvements and called ambulance service performance “robust”.
MSP Baillie said: “Ambulances are a lifeline at a time of desperate need, but these figures show that year after year, the SNP has let emergency services slide.
“Our paramedics do a tremendous job, but rather than responding to desperate patients, ambulances are stuck at the doors of A&E because the SNP has failed to tackle the chaos within.
“Scottish Labour will free up hospital beds and restore the family doctor so that patients at A&E can be treated in a timely manner and paramedics can do the job they were trained for.
“The Cabinet Secretary cannot pull the wool over our eyes by fudging the figures”.
Scottish Ambulance Service operational data 03/06/24 can be accessed at:
2024-06-12-weekly-operational-data.pdf
Scottish Ambulance Service data for the week until June 8th 2025, can be accessed here:
https://www.scottishambulance.com/publications/unscheduled-care-operational-statistics/
Ambulances turn-around times
|
Resource Arrived Destination Calendar Year |
Conveyances |
Conveyances where Turnaround >45 |
% of turnaround >45 |
|
2019 |
377,631 |
62,297 |
16% |
|
2020 |
328,940 |
68,941 |
21% |
|
2021 |
358,426 |
113,407 |
32% |
|
2022 |
353,400 |
163,452 |
46% |
|
2023 |
359,120 |
173,315 |
48% |
|
2024 |
368,475 |
191,679 |
52% |
|
2025 |
86,456 |
47,589 |
55% |
Longest turnaround times
Longest Turnaround Times by Hospital, Scottish Ambulance Service, 06/01/2025-23/03/2025
|
Health Board |
Hospital |
Highest Turnaround Time at Hospital |
|
Ayrshire & Arran |
University Hospital Ayr (Ayr) |
14 hrs 54 mins |
|
Ayrshire & Arran |
University Hospital Crosshouse (Kilmarnock) |
9 hrs 36 mins |
|
Borders |
Borders General Hospital (Melrose) |
2 hrs 56 mins |
|
Dumfries & Galloway |
Galloway Community Hospital (Stranraer) |
2 hrs 20 mins |
|
Dumfries & Galloway |
New Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary (Cargenbridge) |
4 hrs 11 mins |
|
Fife |
Victoria Hospital (Kirkcaldy) |
5 hrs 58 mins |
|
Forth Valley |
Forth Valley Royal Hospital (Larbert) |
4 hrs 48 mins |
|
Grampian |
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (Aberdeen) |
15 hrs 22 mins |
|
Grampian |
Dr Gray’s Hospital (Elgin) |
12 hrs 24 mins |
|
Grampian |
Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (Aberdeen) |
1 hr 36 mins |
|
Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
Glasgow Royal Infirmary (Glasgow) |
7 hrs 52 mins |
|
Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
Inverclyde Royal Hospital (Greenock) |
3 hrs 41 mins |
|
Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (Glasgow) |
9 hrs 47 mins |
|
Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
Royal Alexandra Hospital (Paisley) |
7 hrs 14 mins |
|
Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
Royal Hospital for Children (Glasgow) |
4 hrs 34 mins |
|
Highland |
Belford Hospital (Fort William) |
1 hr 28 mins |
|
Highland |
Caithness General Hospital (Wick) |
3 hrs 52 mins |
|
Highland |
Lorn & Islands Hospital (Oban) |
1 hr 21 mins |
|
Highland |
Raigmore Hospital (Inverness) |
5 hrs 8 mins |
|
Lanarkshire |
University Hospital Hairmyres (East Kilbride) |
8 hrs 28 mins |
|
Lanarkshire |
University Hospital Monklands (Airdrie) |
8 hrs 13 mins |
|
Lanarkshire |
University Hospital Wishaw (Wishaw) |
10 hrs 48 mins |
|
Lothian |
Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Edinburgh) |
3 hrs 45 mins |
|
Lothian |
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France (Edinburgh) |
9 hrs 53 mins |
|
Lothian |
St John’s Hospital (Livingston) |
4 hrs 12 mins |
|
Orkney |
Balfour Hospital (Kirkwall) |
2 hrs 19 mins |
|
Shetland |
Gilbert Bain Hospital (Lerwick) |
1 hr 11 mins |
|
Tayside |
Ninewells Hospital (Dundee) |
2 hrs 42 mins |
|
Tayside |
Perth Royal Infirmary (Perth) |
1 hr 45 mins |
|
Western Isles |
Western Isles Hospital (Isle of Lewis) |
1 hr 47 mins |