The Herald article on the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) failing to meet its 999 targets stated that in England the service was meeting its eight-minute target 19% more of the time than in Scotland and then suggested GP working hours were to blame (December 14). I wish to point out that GP hours of responsibility are the same in both countries. Therefore one should conclude that there are other reasons why the Scottish results are significantly worse. Instead of blaming GPs, we should consider if the SAS is optimising its resources and (importantly) if the SAS is appropriately resourced to cover Scotland's rural areas.

The Herald article on the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) failing to meet its 999 targets stated that in England the service was meeting its eight-minute target 19% more of the time than in Scotland and then suggested GP working hours were to blame (December 14). I wish to point out that GP hours of responsibility are the same in both countries. Therefore one should conclude that there are other reasons why the Scottish results are significantly worse. Instead of blaming GPs, we should consider if the SAS is optimising its resources and (importantly) if the SAS is appropriately resourced to cover Scotland's rural areas.

Furthermore, the out-of-hours period has been the responsibility of health boards since 2004, so it is reasonable to consider if the current health board/NHS 24 services are adequate to cope with demand to avoid patients using SAS/A&E when a community-based response would be more appropriate.

Dr Andrew Buist, Joint Deputy Chairman SGPC, BMA Scotland, 14 Queen Street, Edinburgh.