Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 22 September 2021
I start by reiterating what other members have said: the Scottish Ambulance Service is the heartbeat of our NHS. There is no service like it. Providing emergency care for the public 24 hours a day, every day of the year, our Ambulance Service has a unique and challenging job. I place on record my thanks to the paramedics and others who make sure that the service is available to those who need it, not just during this dreadful pandemic, but always.
As the cabinet secretary said, there is no ignoring the strain that the pandemic has put on our services. We are in a crisis and, despite the lifting of restrictions and some aspects of daily life feeling a little more normal for many of us, that strain on the NHS is still very much there. Covid has not gone away, and there is no denying that the Ambulance Service is under immense pressure from unusually high demand. Our emergency departments are busier than ever with complex cases. Just last month, more than 10,000 life-threatening incidents were responded to, which is double the figure in 2018. As members of other parties have said, we also have to accept that the pressure on the Ambulance Service predates the pandemic.
The fact that anyone is having to wait the reported times for an ambulance is completely unacceptable. I, too, have been contacted by constituents who faced unacceptable waits, and I have taken up their cases where appropriate, as MSPs of all parties—governing parties as well as Opposition parties—would be expected to do. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s announcement yesterday. I am glad that we have recognised the unacceptable place that we are in and that we are now taking swift and appropriate action to ease the pressure.
That pressure needs to be looked at in the round. A lot of the debate today has been about criticising the Government—and only the Government. However, I think back to a pre-pandemic case of individual in my constituency who waited for an ambulance for a long time—I cannot remember the number of hours, but it was certainly hours—after she slipped on ice as a result of cuts to gritting. We need to look at everything in the round: how not only the Government but local authorities can improve the situation. The public expect us to speak constructively about that.