Man, 23, offered remote consultation after collapsing in street but no ambulance

A young man who collapsed in the street during a seizureand dislocated both his shoulders was only offered a "remote consultation" instead of an ambulance.

Martin Logan slammed Scotland's ambulance service after his son Gregor, 23, suffered a tonic-clonic seizure in Aberdeen, fell, and struck his head. A passer-by dialled 999, but control staff advised that instead of dispatching a vehicle, they would undertake a further assessment by telephone or video - a decision that Martin banded "appalling." With no ambulance on the way, Police Scotland officers stepped in and drove the pair to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where Gregor underwent 10 hours of emergency surgery.

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The Scottish Conservatives called the case "deeply distressing" and warned that Scotland's already "overwhelmed" police force should never have been left to replace paramedics. The incident, in July, Mr Logan, prompted Martin, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, to lodge a formal complaint to the SAS.

The Scottish Ambulance Service later said the call information suggested no immediately life-threatening symptoms, adding Gregor was postictal and had no history of seizures of any underlying conditions. In response to the complaint, 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 the "fob off" response triggered him to speak out, describeing the offer of a call from a clinician while his son lay injured as "pathetic." The dad, 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."

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.

"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. Our hard-working staff and suffering patients like Gregor Logan deserve so much better."

New statistics from the Scottish Ambulance Service reveal that median response times for the most serious "purple" category incidents are rising. In the final week of July, the latest period for which data is available, the average response time was seven minutes and 18 seconds - up from six minutes and 40 seconds during the same week last year, and six minutes and 34 seconds in 2023.

A spokesperson from the SAS said: "We can confirm we received a call on 2 July, which was triaged for further assessment by one of our trained clinicians. We have responded directly to the complaint 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 the incident, and I hope Gregor is now recovering well. We have set clear standards that 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."