Moray MP Douglas Ross has ‘cautiously welcomed’ action to tackle long ambulance queues outside Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, but says it must be done with “urgency”.
Douglas’ call comes after he received a response from NHS Grampian after contacting them on January 3, when almost the entire ambulance capacity for Moray were queued outside Dr Gray’s.
In response to Douglas, the health board confirmed that they had spoken with staff who had worked during the early part of the new year as well as analysing adverse events that were reported in that time.
The health board also confirmed to Douglas that patients have been identified who were directly affected by prolonged ambulance care, while a wider action plan has been established by partners including the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Grampian.
Douglas says these are “steps in the right direction” but that it was “completely unacceptable” that scenes occurred where almost all of Moray’s ambulances were queued up outside the area’s flagship hospital.
He says that the needs of patients in Moray have been neglected for far too long by NHS Grampian and successive SNP health secretaries who have consistently failed when it comes to workforce planning and ensuring the health board has the resources it needs.
Douglas added that the delays were through no fault of the truly dedicated ambulance crews and hospital staff who continue to go above and beyond to support patients in Moray and across NHS Grampian.
He also hit out at the health board for taking almost three weeks respond to his correspondence, given the urgent nature of his letter.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “The response from NHS Grampian at least suggests that the health board have recognised the seriousness of what happened early in the new year and are taking steps in the right direction to solve it.
“However, there needs to be a far greater sense of urgency if we are to avoid scenes like this occurring again for patients and our overwhelmed ambulance crews. It was completely unacceptable that it happened in the first place.
“Lives were literally on the line as a result of our ambulance capacity being pushed to total breaking point. It is welcome that partners are working together to address these huge issues, but that is the least that should have been going on well before the situation hit crisis point.
“The scenes we saw at the new year were a result of years of neglect and underfunding for Dr Gray’s hospital, both by successive SNP health secretaries and the health board themselves.
“These delays happened through no fault of our dedicated ambulance crews and hospital staff who continue to go above and beyond to support suffering patients. Dire workforce planning by the SNP government and a lack of resources are to blame for this truly alarming situation.
“Given how urgent and serious it was, I am deeply disappointed that NHS Grampian took almost three weeks to reply to me, which was simply not good enough. I will continue to fight for answers for patients and staff at Dr Gray’s to ensure the pressure can be eased on our overwhelmed services and ambulance crews going forward.”
