FOI 25-450 Shetland Response Times
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-450 Shetland Response Times
- Request Date
- 10 Oct 2025
- Response Date
- 05 Nov 2025
- Information Requested
In accordance with Freedom of Information legislation, please provide the following information: Please tell me the (a) average and (b) longest waits for purple, red, amber, yellow and green calls for the ambulance service in Shetland in (i) 2024 and (ii) in 2025 to date. If records are kept in financial year equivalents, please specify the alternative timeframes used. For each of the longest waits recorded, please specify the location and incident type involved.
- Response
Please see the attached sheet detailing the average, median1, 90th percentile2 and maximum response time for an emergency ambulance in Shetland for the calendar years requested.
We are withholding the requested details of location or incident type for the longest response time under Section 38(1)(b) of FOISA, as disclosure could lead to the identification of individuals involved in specific incidents.
The current formal standard is the Clinical Response Model (CRM). This model categorises emergency calls into five clinical priority levels:
- Purple – Most critically ill patients (e.g., cardiac arrest)
- Red – High likelihood of needing resuscitation
- Amber – Likely to need diagnosis and transport
- Yellow – Low likelihood of needing life-saving intervention
- Green – Non-urgent scheduled care
Please note caution on the interpretation of the data provided.
The response times show total time and do not factor in possible upgrading or downgrading that may occur depending on the patient condition. Times are inclusive of all areas, meaning, as a national service, times are inclusive of all types of locations. These will include areas that may have a difficult access and or in a remote location.
For example, a call may start out as a non-emergency (timed admission) call, subsequently be upgraded to a purple call much later, but only the total time from the first call received is shown. The starting point is always set for the colour category first determined, not the final colour category assigned.
Where delays occur, which could include, weather, admission availability in the receiving hospital, clinical advisors will maintain contact with the patient and hospital staff checking their condition on an ongoing basis and upgrading when appropriate.
For the given data, you will see that some of the figures are shown as, five or less than five, please note that this figure has been suppressed because the statistical value is less than five. The Scottish Ambulance service has a duty, under the Data Protection Act to avoid directly or indirectly revealing any personal details. It is therefore widely understood that provision of statistics on small numbers, five or less are statistically suppressed upon disclosure.
- Response Documents
