Ambulances responded to 71% of heart-attack victims in target time
More than a quarter of Scots who suffered a heart attack last year had to wait longer than the target of eight minutes for an ambulance, figures have revealed.
More than a quarter of Scots who suffered a heart attack last year had to wait longer than the target of eight minutes for an ambulance, figures have revealed.
The Scottish Ambulance Service got to 71.9% of heart-attack patients in that time in 2015.
The figures, released in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Conservatives, showed that in the north of Scotland that fell to 67.97% of patients.
Performance is down from 2014, when ambulances made it to 75.3% of heart-attack patients within the target eight minutes.
The Scottish Government has set the target of having an ambulance with a cardiac-arrest patient within eight minutes in 75% of all cases.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: "It's no secret that the sooner an ambulance gets to a patient having a heart attack, the better the outcome will be.
"That's why the eight-minute target is there and it's very worrying to see performance against this slipping.
"This is a trend that has to be reversed, and if it remains on a downwards trajectory lives will be put at risk.''
Mr Carlaw added: "Ambulance workers do a fantastic job under a great deal of pressure and these figures show they need more support from the Scottish Government.''