Exclusive:Man who collapsed injured in street offered 'remote consultation' instead of ambulance
Surgeon tells of 'total breakdown' of ambulance service after son's collapse
A surgeon whose son was left with fracture injuries when he collapsed on the street following a seizure has condemned the “total breakdown” of one of Scotland’s frontline emergency services after it offered a remote consultation instead of taking him to hospital by ambulance.
Martin Logan’s son, Gregor, fractured both shoulders after falling following a tonic-clonic seizure in Aberdeen last month, prompting a passer-by to call 999 in the hope of getting an ambulance to attend the scene.
But staff at the Scottish Ambulance Service’s control centre advised that instead of dispatching a vehicle, it wanted to undertake a further assessment by telephone or video - a decision that Mr Logan described as “appalling” and proof the service was no longer fit for purpose.
Instead, the father and son were driven by Police Scotland officers to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where Gregor, 23, underwent emergency surgery.
The Scottish Conservatives described the incident as "deeply distressing” and said it should never have reached the point where Scotland’s already “overwhelmed” police force were stepping in in the place of paramedics.
‘Our resources are not without limit’
In the wake of the incident in July, Mr Logan, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, made a formal complaint to the SAS.
The service has since told him that based on the information provided during the call, there were no immediately life-threatening symptoms, with no mention of any injuries sustained. Mr Logan’s son, it added, was postictal and had no history or seizures or any underlying conditions.
In its response to his complaint, seen by The Scotsman, the SAS said it was “disappointed” that Mr Logan’s experience had not met his expectations, and noted that its explanation “may not alleviate the frustrations that you may have”.
The SAS added: “Our resources are not without limit, and we must ensure that those who present with no immediately life-threatening symptoms speak to a clinician to discuss their symptoms further so that their need for medical attention is triaged appropriately and the right care in the right place is sought.”
Mr Logan said he decided to speak out about his experience after receiving the “fob off” response from the SAS. He described the offer of a call from a clinician while his son was lying injured as “pathetic”.
The father, from Edinburgh, said he also spoke with the SAS call handler during the incident, but said they were “getting nowhere” and characterised their responses as someone who was “just reading off a menu”.
‘He needed to be in an ambulance’
Mr Logan said: “The call was made during the seizure and it was an evolving situation. Gregor hit his head off the wall behind him and the extent of the shoulder injuries became more clear as he regained consciousness. By the time we got him in the police car, it was clear to me that he had dislocated both shoulders posteriorly.
“The police were helping us to get Gregor to hospital. Talking to a clinician would have been of absolutely no use to him at that stage - he needed to be in an ambulance going to A&E.”
Mr Logan said he has spoken with several of his consultant colleagues who were “utterly shocked” at the “appalling” lack of service provided by the SAS.
He said: “They had no interest in my son hitting his head or injuring his shoulders. They could have found this out had they actually come to the scene and assessed the patient.
“The fact that the police told us this is happening all the time, where the police service is now essentially the first tier ambulance service, is just unbelievable.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary, said: “This deeply distressing case lays bare the human cost of the SNP’s chronic and disgraceful mismanagement of the ambulance service.
‘Scotland’s NHS is in crisis’
“This patient was in clear need of urgent medical care, but he and his father were left to feel abandoned when they were desperate for help. It should never have reached the point where our overwhelmed police officers had to step in where paramedics should have been.”
Dr Gulhane added: “Scotland’s NHS is in crisis, and lives are being put at risk because of the SNP’s failure to properly resource frontline services. Delayed discharges, missed targets and a lack of investment have left our ambulance crews stretched to breaking point.
“Our hard-working staff and suffering patients like Gregor Logan deserve so much better.”
Statistics compiled by the SAS show an increase in median response time for the more serious incidents, classed as ‘purple’ category by the service. In the final week of July, the latest period for which data is available, the time stood at seven minutes and 18 seconds. That is up from six minutes and 40 seconds for the same period last year, and six minutes and 34 seconds in 2023.
The same statistics also show a spike in hospital turn-around times. Nationwide, the median time was 42 minutes and 52 seconds in the last week of July 2023, but it now sits at 47 minutes 50 seconds. In NHS Grampian, the median turn-around time went up by more than 12 minutes to 58 minutes 51 seconds.
Ambulance stacking plan ‘unachievable’
The median turn-around time is even longer at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary - the hospital attended by Mr Logan and his son - with figures showing an increase from 47 minutes 48 seconds in 2023 to more than an hour this summer. Only last month, an SAS board meeting heard that a “whole system plan” by the service and NHS Grampian to remove “ambulance stacking” had now been deemed “unachievable”.
A spokesman for the SAS said: “We can confirm we received a call on July 2, which was triaged for further assessment by one of our trained clinicians. We have responded directly to the complainant providing an explanation on how the call was handled based on the information provided at the time of the call.
“All our calls are assessed to ensure the most seriously ill patients are given the highest priority and we have systems in place to support patients to access the most appropriate care based on their needs.”
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I am concerned to hear about this incident, and I hope Gregor is now recovering well. We have set clear standards we expect our health system to meet, and I am sorry that Gregor’s experience has been negative.
“It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment further on or intervene directly in matters relating to a patient’s treatment and care. Any specific concerns about patient care should be addressed by the appropriate Health Board.“
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