Number of cancelled ambulance calls rockets by 670 per cent in Scotland as patients make own way to hospital - Daily Record

Number of cancelled ambulance calls rockets by 670 per cent in Scotland as patients make own way to hospital – Daily Record

New figures have shown that the number of patients cancelling ambulance calls because they have made their own way to hospital has increased by 670 per cent.

A freedom of information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats found the number of cancellations because patients sourced their own transport rose from 753 in the 2016-17 financial year to 5,796 in 2021-22.

The number of incidents where an ambulance arrived to find the patient had made their own way to hospital also rose, from 405 to 2,330 – a 475 per cent increase, during the same time period.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said it is not clear if the decision to attend hospital without an ambulance was “a preference or a necessity”, as he called on Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to provide move funding for emergency care.