A good samaritan has been thanked for feeding a queue of Scottish ambulance crews pizza as they waited for a covid logjam to clear.
The paramedics were forced to stack up outside the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary last night, January 28, as patients were processed.
The backlog of vehicles was caused because of strict safety procedures in the hospitals A&E department.
Staff are taking longer processing patients due to the tight covid infection-control restrictions.
But the mercy crews’ received a surprise when the good samaritan arrived with armfuls of pizzas, water and other goodies.
One of the paramedics thanked the residents on the Fubar News Facebook page.
They wrote: “Could you say a massive thanks for the generosity of the member of the public who very kindly took pity on the Ambulance crews stacked up waiting at the hospital tonight and treated us to pizza.
“It was indeed very welcome. Very touching act in these challenging times.”
The heartwarming gesture was also praised by ambulance bosses.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “We would like to extend our thanks to a very generous member of the public who kindly donated pizza and water to our crews at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary around 8pm last night.
“Our staff work incredibly hard, helping patients and saving lives every day and a random act of kindness, such as this one, boosts morale during these unprecedented times.”
Other locals praised the samaritan online.
One wrote: “What an amazing thing to do, so hard hearing that the ambulances are backing up and having to wait, all the while our paramedics are on hand giving the best care and support possible in very challenging situations. I appreciate everything that you do, you are awesome.”
While another said: “Heart goes out to our amazing ambulance crews, they do great job. Lovely kind thing to do.”
And a third added: “I was in hospital at the end of last year the paramedics were both female and were so kind and caring I think it takes a very special person to do their job.”
Today a spokesperson for NHS Grampian apologised for the “regrettable” backlog.
He explained extra pressures caused by the covid crisis is having an effect on the speed at which patients are processed.
He said: “As a result of the combining pressures from both Covid-19 and winter, we have experienced an increase in the number of ambulances having to wait to transfer patients from an ambulance into the Emergency Department (ED).
"This situation is regrettable and we apologise for this.
“As a result of our response to managing care and treatment within our major infectious diseases plan and having to adapt to the requirements to maintain an environment safe for both patients and staff, we have had to modify our access and capacity threshold within the ED as well as other areas in the hospital.
"This has occasioned regrettable delays from the ED and for those waiting in ambulances to access the department.”
