A&E HITS CRISIS POINT

Level 4 alert means staff can have Christmas leave cancelled. Demands for Nats to step in as fears grow over winter chaos

- DAN VEVERS

THE Scottish Government is under fire after ambulance bosses put staff on red alert to bail out buckling A&Es.

Patients last week spent up to 12 hours in ambulances queuing outside casualty departments around the country.

Paramedics were put on the highest possible "Level 4" alert status meaning managers can cancel leave and deploy all available workers to the front line.

Labour slammed Health Secretary Neil Gray over the crisis, with party health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie saying: "Yet again, Scotland's ambulance service has been plunged into winter chaos due to the lack of planning and support from the SNP.

"That lives are being endangered and staff are having to cancel leave at Christmas is intolerable.

"Neil Gray needs to put down the selection box and get back to work." Details of the alarming strain placed on our hospitals in the week before Christmas have now emerged with GMB union insiders fearing it's only the start of a looming winter crisis.

Bosses at the Scottish Ambulance Service put managers on the highest level of alert from yesterday, as waits to get into A&Es grew.

The Resource Escalation Action Plan (REAP) was moved to red alert Level 4, giving managers the option of emergency measures such as asking staff to cancel annual leave and transferring all trained workers to frontline duties to deal with the crisis.