A patient was yesterday left waiting on a hospital helideck for almost an hour for an ambulance to take him on a 140 metre journey to the casualty department.
The oil rig worker was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after he became injured on a platform in the North Sea shortly before 9am.
But he arrived on the Bond emergency helicopter to find out that there were no ambulances available to transfer him to the city hospital.
The patient had to stay on board the chopper for 50 minutes until an ambulance was free to pick him up from the helideck which is based a short distance away from the front entrance of the emergency department.
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) said ambulance crews tasked with picking up the patient were diverted to an emergency instead.
An SAS spokesman said: “Emergency ambulances are always prioritised to the most serious cases. The patient on board the helicopter was not a life threatening case and at no immediate risk while in the care of clinicians on board the helicopter. “An ambulance was dispatched quickly to the helipad, but had to divert en route to a life threatening 999 emergency. A surge in demand then required local crews to respond immediately to other 999 emergencies in Aberdeen.
“While the patient waited safely in the aircraft, local ambulances were being dispatched to other cases to save lives and as soon as a crew became available he was transferred into the hospital.
“Had the case been more serious, or potentially life threatening, the original ambulance would not have been diverted to another emergency.”
No details of the oil rig worker’s injuries were available yesterday.teams are usually sent to assist at hospital helidecks when helicopters land to make help secure the area.
An Aberdeen Coastguard spokeswoman said: “At about 8.49am today UK Coastguard were informed that an offshore crewman on a North Sea platform required a medical evacuation.
“Rescue BOND 1 helicopter was immediately sent to the location to airlift the casualty to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
“Aberdeen Coastguard Rescue Team were sent to man the helicopter landing site at the hospital.”