Scotland’s ambulance crisis has to come to an end.
Some of the troubling scenes outside our hospitals, the pain endured by patients waiting six hours for medical attention and the corrosive effect the situation is having on staff just cannot go on.
Out of sheer desperation an ambulance worker has detailed for us the grim, frustrating, exhausting reality of life on the frontline.
The people who drive our ambulances and try to get the patients to hospital are at the end of their tether and when you read about their experiences it is easy to understand why.
The paramedic who spoke to the Record tells today of feeling “exhausted, undervalued and overwhelmed”.
It is unacceptable that dedicated health professionals are at the point of despair while clocking on each day to protect the public.
Over the last week we have asked for greater resources to be allocated to ease the pressure on frontline staff.
Today the Unite union has come up with a list of solutions that deserve consideration. Part of the solution lies with the professionals who run the NHS but not all.
The union highlights that some of the burden is on us, the public, too.
Ambulance staff are tired of emphasising that their limited resources are meant for genuine emergencies and life-threatening situations.
An ambulance is a mobile, life-saving medical centre, it is not a taxi to take you to hospital.
We must consider whether we really need an ambulance before we call one.
The union advice and recommendations, if considered and acted upon, would ease the burden on these heroes on the frontline.
And the reasonable measures they propose would help put the health service back on track.
