The Health secretary has been urged to step in after it emerged that "dangerously deteriorating" ambulance turnaround times at Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital have rocketed.
It means mercy crews are being trapped at A&E waiting to handover patients before they can be cleared to respond to another emergency.
Figures show that the number of turnarounds taking more than two hours to free up crews have spiralled - with the longest recorded at seven hours and nine minutes.
The median turnaround time for crews at the Corsebar Road hospital has shot up from 20:46 minutes in 2014 to 37:27 minutes in 2021 - an 80 per cent increase.
Data only stretches to May this year, so does not even take account of the recent troubles at the Paisley hospital, which has seen A&E stretched even further and led to claims that patients have spent more than eight hours in an ambulance.
Now politician Katy Clark has written to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf demanding action and urging an end to austerity in the NHS.
The West of Scotland list MSP said: "The pandemic has caused huge strain, but these figures show that our NHS has been facing these pressures for several years.
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"I have written to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf about this crisis. We urgently need the Scottish Government to come forward with a revised NHS recovery plan and workforce management plan as we enter the busy winter period."
In her letter to Mr Yousaf, seen by the Express, Labour's Ms Clark said: "I hope you would agree the extent of these increases is shocking. So, I would like to ask
specifically what the Scottish Government attributes these long-term increase to? What steps is the Scottish Government taking to address these long-term factors? Will you rule out any further austerity in our NHS?".
She also outlined a "clear correlation" between "underfunding and understaffing of key services" and the "difficulties we face" and laid bare how the "roots of the crisis go far beyond the pandemic".
The number of ambulances waiting for more than an hour to transfer sick patients to hospital was logged at 672 in 2021, compared to 147 in 2014, while the number waiting more than three hours jumped from less than five in 2014 to 22.
The Scottish Ambulance Service has also admitted that lengthy turnaround times at hospitals is hitting crews hard.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson told the Express: "Lengthy patient handover times at hospitals, due to emergency departments being at, near or full capacity, continue to be a major issue and are significantly impacting on our ability to get to patients as quickly as we’d like to.
"We are working closely with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to mitigate external challenges on our service and we have joint escalation plans in place to manage the risks of increased ambulance delays at hospital."
Meanwhile, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde apologised to patients for the delays seen at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, saying: "We are working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to reduce the wait experienced by patients accessing our Emergency Departments. At the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and at all EDs across NHSGGC, patients who need the most urgent care continue to be seen most quickly.
Some people are facing a long wait, and we’re very sorry for that. At the RAH, the position over the last week has shown improvement, but unfortunately, our Emergency Department is still seeing people who do not need to be there, with common inappropriate presentations including period pain, dental pain, urinary tract infections, sore throat (less than one day) and rashes."
They are urging those with non life-threatening conditions to seek advice from their GP during office hours and from NHS24 on 111 out-of-hours.
The spokesperson added: "They will direct you to most appropriate place for care – and if that is ED, they will direct you there. This will allow the most seriously unwell patients to be managed through the ED including those with a life threatening illness.
"Following this guidance will help us to protect and support our EDs to help the sickest patients, with the additional benefit of helping to reduce ambulance waiting times."
