Scottish ambulance wait times increase across 32 councils
As such, the SAS prioritises immediate care for these individuals.
However, access to efficient care has become increasingly difficult to secure.
The number of Scottish ambulance staff have increased since 2019. In rural Aberdeenshire, for example, seriously ill patients have been forced to wait for nearly 14 minutes to receive life-saving treatment, up from 9 minutes, 41 seconds in 2019.
Similarly, 'purple' case holders in Angus waited an average of 12 minutes, 12 seconds in 2024, up from 9 minutes, 30 seconds five years ago.
While response times in Glasgow (6 minutes, 42 seconds) and Edinburgh (6 minutes, 26 seconds) remain low, they have risen by 58 seconds and 32 seconds from 2019, respectively.
Across all local authorities, wait times increased by an average of 1 minute, 23 seconds over the six year period.
The largest increases occurred in Aberdeenshire, where wait times rose by 4 minutes, and in North Ayrshire, by 2 minutes, 59 seconds.
Furthermore, figures reveal that the average time from emergency call to arrival on scene has risen by at least one minute in 21 local authorities, and by at least 30 seconds in all councils other than Dundee and Stirling.
Stirling was one of just two councils not to see an increase greater than 30 seconds. (Image: Stirling Council) A rising caseload could play a role in the delays.
In 2019, 13,515 'purple' incidents were attended by the SAS across Scotland, according to internal data reviewed by The Herald. However, by 2024, this number had risen to 24,881 incidents, an increase of 84%.
In the same time frame, the number of SAS employees increased from 5,094 to 6,496.
SAS employed 1,641 ambulance paramedics in 2019, as well as 882 care assistants and 1,350 technicians.
By 2024, these figures rose to 2,291 ambulance paramedics, 953 care assistants, and 1,606 technicians.
A Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) spokesperson told The Herald: 'Our latest statistics show our median response time for our most serious calls across the country is currently 7 minutes 13 seconds.
'We measure response times from the moment a caller contacts us, and the longer response times often relate to incidents where the patient's condition was assessed at a lower call category, such as amber or yellow, and were then subsequently upgraded.
'We continually look for opportunities to improve our response times and are working closely with hospitals which experience delays in accepting ambulance patients.'
Conservative MSP Brian Whittle. The Scottish Tories have slammed the SNP over the findings.
Brian Whittle MSP, Shadow Minister for Public Health, Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport told The Herald:
'These alarming figures highlight how ambulance response times are spiralling out of control on the SNP's watch.
'Make no mistake, lives are being needlessly lost because nationalist ministers have failed to get on top of a crisis which has been worsening for years.
Whittle added: 'We know response times are impacted by ambulances being stacked up outside emergency departments for hours, unable to hand over patients because of a shortage of hospital beds, which in turn stems from the SNP's broken promise to eradicate delayed discharge.
'Our dedicated ambulance crews and patients deserve better than this chronic SNP mismanagement.'
In December 2024, SAS crews were placed on level four of the organisation's resource escalation action plan (REAP) - its highest level of emergency.
At the time, the SAS said patients who were not critically ill may have to wait longer for treatment.
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The Herald previously revealed that nearly 9,000 patients died prior to arriving at hospital in 2024.
Figures obtained via FOI showed that 8,870 people died before an ambulance arrived or paramedics were unable to resuscitate them, a jump of 82% from 2019, when 4,820 people died in the same circumstances.
At the time, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'Ambulances are there to save lives rather than certify deaths, but too often, they are stuck on hospital forecourts rather than responding to calls.
'These figures show the true toll of the SNP's failure to reduce waiting times – thousands of patients are dying before they ever get a chance to enter a hospital ward. Our NHS needs a new direction and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it.'
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