Ayrshire ambulance hospital turnaround times total 16 years

The data, shared by the Scottish Liberal Democrats following a freedom of information request (FOI), found that Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) turnaround times have fallen in the area, but still total the fifth highest among the country's 14 health boards.

The FOI found that NHS Ayrshire and Arran ambulances waited a combined total of 144,873 hours to turnaround - the equivalent of 16-and-a-half years.

This was broken down in hours of waiting per year:

• 2022 - 38,558
• 2023 - 34,347
• 2024 - 38,975
• 2025 - 32,991

Ambulance bosses say pressures remain intense, but work is ongoing to alleviate the issue.

An SAS spokesperson said: “We continue to experience significant pressure on our services due to lengthy hospital turnaround times at a number of hospital sites across Scotland.

"These waits prevent our crews from getting back out on the road to treat other patients, and we are working closely with health boards to support their efforts to improve the situation.”

First Minister of Scotland John Swinney met staff of the Scottish Ambulance Service earlier this year. (Image: Jeff J Mitchell/PA Wire)

Vicki Campbell, director of acute services at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, added: "Over the last few years, there has been significant demand to access unscheduled care services across NHS Scotland.

"This has also been reflected within NHS Ayrshire and Arran, where we have experienced pressures across the whole health and care system over this period.

"We work closely with Scottish Ambulance Service to continuously monitor all ambulance handover waits and prioritise patients based on their clinical need.

"In addition we carry out review and forecasting of demand across our sites to ensure services are prepared and able to safely receive patients to minimise any delays.

"Our clinical teams continuously review any patients with prolonged waits to ensure that all patients receive required treatment and care with patients prioritised at all times based on their clinical need."

Figures were revealed just before the Holyrood election in May, with the Scottish Lib Dems stating that the "staggering" FOI results prove that the SNP "cannot be trusted" with the NHS.

But the Scottish Government says that a new plan will be in place within the first 100 days of parliament to deal with hospital flow and help reduce strains on the health service.

Angela Constance said work will be done to reduce pressure on health services. (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Health Secretary Angela Constance said: “A&E departments continue to experience significant pressure - this is not unique to Scotland, with other UK nations facing similar demands.

"However, I am clear that it is unacceptable for patients to be waiting too long to receive the care they need and that is why in the first 100 days of government we will be bringing forward a new national plan for hospital flow.

“This will see us bring together the Scottish Ambulance Service and health boards to build on the important work already being done to reduce waits for patients, reduce people going to hospital unnecessarily and ease A&E pressures.

"For example, we’ve already introduced new frailty units for every A&E department and we’ve increased the number of paramedics in Scotland to a record high.”