The trade union UNISON has warned more ambulances are being sent out with just one paramedic on board, increasing the risks to patients, as the service faces “phenomenal pressure”.

It comes as patients face dangerously long waits for ambulances and the health secretary urging the public to “think twice” before calling 999.

Figures released today show A&E performance hit a new record low, with just 71.5% of patients seen and processed within the four hour target.

More than 100 Armed Forces personnel are to support the Scottish Ambulance Service, following a government request for assistance last week.

David O’Connor, UNISON’s ambulance service officer, said single-crewing was now becoming a “more and more regular occurrence” and warned of “growing fears over patient safety”.

“It’s the perfect storm, the mixture of things we are facing”, he said.

“We’ve got the pressure on hospitals, where we are sending ambulances to sit at A&Es for hours upon hours and hours, which then gives rise to us not getting to patients as quickly as we normally would.

“No matter how many ambulances you put on the road, they’re still going to queue up outside an A&E, until that problem is fixed.

“We can have someone, where previously they would maybe wait 15 to 30 minutes outside, they are now waiting hours. That’s an ambulance tied up.”

Mr O’Connor added: “The challenges that ambulances face up and down the country are phenomenal, but it’s part of a wider issue – it’s not just ambulances and it should never be seen just as ambulances; it’s ambulances, health boards and hospitals, and the social care element.”

Unite Scotland, which also represents paramedics, has called for the service to declare a ‘major incident’ at hospitals where patients face waits of more than 30 minutes in an ambulance.

The union said an ambulance queuing at an emergency department missed an average of three 999 calls while it waited to offload patients.

One ambulance service staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, told healthandcare.scot they were seeing paramedics being sent out on their own much more frequently than normal, as tough decisions have to be made about whether to send out one team member quickly or wait for a full crew.

Single-crewed ambulances cannot provide the same level of care that a two-member team can and cannot transport patients to hospital if they deteriorate.

The source said staff hate keeping patients waiting but also found going out alone extremely stressful.

Nicola Sturgeon said last week the Scottish Ambulance Service was facing “exceptional circumstances” on a daily basis.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “The NHS is currently experiencing significant sustained pressure across Scotland due to hospitals operating at or near full capacity and staff abstractions. These capacity challenges are because of increased covid-19 cases and increasing non-covid demand, and are causing lengthy hospital handover delays.

"In response to these pressures, we have escalated in line with our plans to maximise resource provision, placed all clinically trained staff on frontline duties, sought support from partners whilst working with health boards across Scotland to minimise delays.

“Ambulances are not single-crewed other than in exceptional circumstances, such as short notice unplanned staff absences, and every effort is made to double crew ambulances through rostered and relief staff, overtime or our bank staff.”

 

Read more: Insight: A&E facing winter pressures “all year round”; Insight: Recovery is about workforce and wellbeing; 111 delays risk A&E call-ahead plan

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.