Ambulance service issues apology over woman's wait

The Scottish Ambulance Service has apologised for taking three-and-a-half hours to arrive at an Edinburgh street where a woman was injured.

The woman, in her 30s, suffered a suspected broken collarbone after tripping in St Mary's Street on Monday.

The Evening News reported that a passing doctor said the woman was showing signs of hypothermia.

The Scottish Ambulance Service said there was no time limit in which it must respond to a call.

A spokesman said: "We prioritise our services to ensure the sickest, most seriously injured patients, including those with immediately life-threatening conditions, are given the highest priority.

"We apologise to this patient for the delay in our response. We were experiencing an exceptionally high level of demand at the time in the area and the patient was triaged as a non immediately life-threatening emergency.

"We regret that the patient waited longer than we would have liked and we will be contacting her directly to apologise."