999 calls delayed by fault

An emergency call was delayed by almost an hour because of a technical problem that disrupted 999 phonecalls to the Scottish Ambulance Service, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has revealed.

Ms Sturgeon apologised to those affected by "distressing" delays after problems struck at the service's three dispatch centres in Inverness, Glasgow and South Queensferry.

She said lessons must be learned from the incident on 21 July and told how 125 patient calls had to be diverted to Northern Ireland and England using the ambulance service's "buddy system".

Ms Sturgeon said: "These delays will have been distressing to the individuals concerned. I would like to convey my apologies, and those of the ambulance service chair, to all of them."

She also stressed there had been "no adverse outcomes attributable to the delays associated with the buddy system".