Nicola Sturgeon news: SNP under pressure as police forced to act as paramedics amid crisis | Politics | News

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Hamza Yousef of SNP falls from his scooter

Police officers transport patients to hospitals and medical emergencies due to lack of ambulances or long waiting times for paramedics. These discoveries were revealed in police reports revealed by the Scottish Police Association and in 1919.

Yesterday night, opposition leaders challenged Scottish Health Minister Hamza Yusuf to get “control of the crisis”.

It comes just weeks after Mr Youssef urged Scots to “think twice” before calling 999 for an ambulance, and official figures revealed A&E’s waiting time performance once again hit a record low.

Last month, the Scottish first minister was also forced to call in the British army to help drive ambulances amid deteriorating response times and warnings of a driver shortage from the ambulance service.

Police statements provided by officers once revealed that a man with bleeding from his inner ear and head faced at least three hours of waiting for an ambulance after being assaulted.

The findings have put more pressure on the Scottish government (Image: GETTY)

Rising COVID-19 cases are putting pressure on the Scottish NHS (Image: Getty)

On another occasion, an unconscious man who attempted to commit suicide by overdose ended up in hospital in a police car because no ambulance had attended more than an hour after being called.

A third occasion revealed that no ambulance was available to attend after an elderly person was left bleeding profusely after a dog bite.

Separately, police officers operating in western Scotland were advised in early August that the average wait for an ambulance would be eight hours.

In one incident, the ambulance service reportedly asked the police for help in dealing with a woman whose motorcycle fell on her, leaving her with a double open fracture in her lower leg.

The police record read: “There is a local nurse off duty with her but since the ambulance won’t be able to come for two hours, the SAS (Scottish Ambulance Service) told us, despite it being a medical issue and their lack of resources they can’t change what it is.

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Health Minister Hamza Youssef is under pressure because of the crisis (Image: GETTY)

“They are asking if we can attend (I’m not sure of anything) but the duty sergeant doesn’t have units and I’m not sure what help they could provide if he did.”

Gordon Forsyth of the Scottish Police Association said: “Policemen there are taking people to hospital in the back of police cars just because the ambulance will take hours, or there is no suitable person to leave the person with and stand up.

Mr Forsyth said he has a list of 30 odd examples where officers have been sent on related medical calls.

“It all comes down to the question: Where does police responsibility stop and begin?

“These are medical incidents, they are not accidents or criminal activity. Officers are left to fill in the loopholes.”

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Police officers have been called in for medical incidents (Image: PA)

Scottish Conservative Health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “Hamza Yusuf’s failure to control the crisis in the Ambulance Service is having a detrimental effect on other heroic emergency service staff.

“It shouldn’t have let it get to the point where police officers routinely have to support ambulance crews.”

Dr. Gulhane said the police could not disrupt “vital work due to the lack of resources our ambulance service needs”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole Hamilton said: “Police officers will be the first to tell you they are going to do their best but are simply not equipped or trained for the job.

“They should not have seizures that are consumed by serious medical incidents.

Alex Cole Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Democratic Party (Image: PA)

“The pressure on emergency care is painfully evident, with long waits, the army deployed and now police officers say they have had to provide cover as well. It’s a symptom of the service being brought to its knees because SNP ministers ignored warnings.”

Scotland’s chief of police said it was an opportunity to “disrupt” the force’s non-emergency response times if the situation worsened.

Ian Livingstone added: “It is my responsibility and duty as Chief Constable to highlight that our non-emergency response times continue to be affected by high demand.

“Frankly, there is the potential for further disruption should the pressure on other agencies and services continue and become more severe, particularly as the country prepares for COP26.”

But the Scottish Ambulance Service disputed the reports and made clear it did not expect officers to assist with 999 calls or take patients to hospital.

Chief Constable Ian Livingstone of Police Scotland (Image: GETTY)

A police spokesperson added: “Police officers are only required to attend cardiac arrest calls as a first response in northern Scotland and are immediately backed up by an ambulance supplier.

This is in line with previous joint response agreements to the pandemic. In no other situation would police officers attend 999 ambulance calls or be required to take patients to hospital.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland is well served by the Police Service, the hardworking, dedicated and professional officers and staff who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic.

“As the Scottish Ambulance Service previously legalized, they do not require police officers to attend to emergencies in lieu of ambulance crew or take patients to hospital.

“For all 999 calls, the ambulance service will always send the closest and most appropriate response.”

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