Where are the 10 worst areas in Scotland for long ambulance response times?

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have demanded an inquiry into avoidable deaths caused by lengthy blue light waits.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Scottish Ambulance Service’s response times to purple calls – where patients are identified as having a 10 per cent or more chance of having a cardiac arrest – increased in every local authority area except Shetland, Freedom of Information figures obtained by the party revealed.

The cardiac arrest rate in this category is about 53 per cent.

A patient in Glasgow waited two hours and one minute for a response to a critical call last year – the highest of the year – followed by Aberdeen City with one hour and 54 minutes.

Over the same time period, 28 local authorities experienced an increase in average waiting times for red calls – the second most serious category.

Red calls are categorised when a patient has between a 1 per cent and 9.9 per cent likelihood of cardiac arrest, or having a need for resuscitation interventions. A Highland patient waited eight hours and 58 minutes for a response in this category, followed by eight hours and 55 minutes in Aberdeen.

Red level waits did not increase in Edinburgh, Midlothian, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian. The longest waiting time for any call, which includes less serious amber and yellow categories, was 1,066 minutes, or 17 hours, in 2023.

Here’s our rundown of the ten worst performed areas in Scotland for critical ambulance wait times.