Over-stretched ambulance staff are struggling to get patients to appointments, it has been claimed.
Christine Barclay (58), of Buckhaven, said her husband missed a key appointment because there were no patient transfer ambulances to take him there.
Multiple sclerosis sufferer Matthew Barclay (62) was due to see a consultant at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, last Thursday but the couple received a phone call the day before to say there were no vehicles available.
It means his appointment has been delayed by two weeks.
“They couldn’t supply an ambulance as they said they were busy that day, but his appointment was really urgent,” said Mrs Barclay.
“I just think it’s crazy. They are building a big new hospital in Kirkcaldy but patients won’t be able to get to it if they can’t get an ambulance, don’t have their own transport and can’t use public transport.”
Mrs Barclay also claimed that on a previous occasion her husband had been left waiting on a trolley for hours after being discharged from Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, again because there was no ambulance to take him home.
“He was waiting all the time on a trolley in a corridor for an ambulance, with nothing to eat or drink. They phoned at four o’clock from Dunfermline and said he was being discharged and they were waiting on an ambulance.
“I didn’t get him home until quarter to 11 at night.”
Mrs Barclay contacted Independent Councillor Andrew Rodger, who described the situation as “shocking”.
He said, “Here was someone with an urgent appointment who couldn’t be seen for three weeks because they couldn’t get an ambulance. He should have been seen within a week.
“It’s absolutely shocking, especially in his condition.
“When they talk about the situation regarding people not attending hospital, it would be good to find out why they are not attending are they not making the appointment or not turning up because there isn’t an ambulance? That would be a waste of consultants’ time.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said it was important to make clear that the issue concerned patient transfer ambulances and not emergency vehicles.
He said, “Every year our patient transport service undertakes more than 146,000 patient journeys in Fife. On this occasion there was an unusual increase in demand for wheelchair patients, which restricted available space on vehicles.
“This, unfortunately, meant that some journeys had to be cancelled. The patient has been re-booked for an appointment next week.”