Scotland’s ambulances are between 2 and 3 times faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds another case to to deflect you with
The Daily Record today, above:
On 26 June 2026:
There are some minor problems in comparing the data for England and Scotland but you can be sure that were they to favour the former, they’d be widely reported. Here’s why they’re not:
Comparing median and mean ambulance response times can be useful, but each metric provides different insights, and their comparability depends on the data’s distribution and context. Here’s a breakdown:
Mean (Average) Response Time: The sum of all response times divided by the number of responses. It gives a general sense of typical performance but is sensitive to extreme values (e.g., a few very long response times can skew the mean upward).
Median Response Time: The middle value when all response times are ordered. It represents the point where half the responses are faster and half are slower, making it less affected by outliers and often a better measure of “typical” performance in skewed datasets.
In January 2024, BBC UK made direct comparison possible:
Via the BBC’s How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance was 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800
Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023:
Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes – above the target time of 18 minuteshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67714151
Yes, I know the English figures are only for Category 2 emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes and we can’t see if the Scottish figures are for the same or for all categories, but if they were for all categories including the less serious ones, that would make the Scottish average even more impressive!
I did expect not to find Scottish postcodes in the app, as is the case for Wales and Northern Ireland. BBC Scotland has since managed to get them removed.
They seem to have stopped offering this service in early March 2024 when the Scottish average wait for an ambulance was 8 minutes and 36 seconds but for England, they stopped posting the average to replace it with the percentage waiting more than 30 minutes – 27%. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800
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6 thoughts on “Scotland’s ambulances are between 2 and 3 times faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds another case to to deflect you with”
You would think the Oldham Daily Record would be aware of stats in Engerlund. Perhaps they rely too much on citizen “journalism” from Jaikie and Co. Alas she doesn’t venture much past the press “pen”, so is never up to speed with the real news.
Then there’s personal experience. The problem with these random Daily Record “hit jobs” against the SNHS is that we all have personal experience. Most of us have nothing but praise for a service that saves lives and strives to look after patients with kindness and skill. Polls show a high positive rating for the SNHS.
OK, sometimes someone makes a mistake. Occasionally a bad actor is discovered. Isn’t that normal in every large organisation?
The BritNat propaganda sheets rely on some who even with good personal experience of SNHS, would still complain about it, and they just have no clue about the alternative. A privatised NHS where if you can’t pay you simply do not get treatment, and if you are insured, you still can’t get treatment because the grifters insurance companies won’t cover your particular condition.
If the English vote for the far right next election that will definitley be the situation in their UK.
Talking-up Scotland 
You would think the Oldham Daily Record would be aware of stats in Engerlund. Perhaps they rely too much on citizen “journalism” from Jaikie and Co. Alas she doesn’t venture much past the press “pen”, so is never up to speed with the real news.
gavinochiltree
LikeLiked by 2 people
Then there’s personal experience. The problem with these random Daily Record “hit jobs” against the SNHS is that we all have personal experience. Most of us have nothing but praise for a service that saves lives and strives to look after patients with kindness and skill. Polls show a high positive rating for the SNHS.
OK, sometimes someone makes a mistake. Occasionally a bad actor is discovered. Isn’t that normal in every large organisation?
LikeLiked by 2 people
The BritNat propaganda sheets rely on some who even with good personal experience of SNHS, would still complain about it, and they just have no clue about the alternative. A privatised NHS where if you can’t pay you simply do not get treatment, and if you are insured, you still can’t get treatment because the grifters insurance companies won’t cover your particular condition.
If the English vote for the far right next election that will definitley be the situation in their UK.
LikeLiked by 1 person
John tiny typo, ‘tines’ in the title, instead of times.
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What’s more shocking is that “hard working scots” are expected to pay £2.10 for this English Regional Daily.
Anyway, back to the front page and who is this “Wadders at Wimbers”, and is she suffering from bloated wind?
Stephen McKenzie
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Why wait for an ambulance? In an emergency just get to the hospital, doctor, medical centre as quickly as possible. Just go.
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