A GRANDFATHER has criticised the 999 service after he had to drive his three-year-old grandson to hospital - after giving up waiting for an ambulance.
George Ritchie, 48, from Torry, said he drove grandson Leon, to Royal Aberdeen Children's hospital himself when an ambulance failed to appear more than 15 minutes after he had dialled 999 from the centre of Aberdeen on Monday.
Mr Ritchie said: "I could understand if we were a mile away but we were in the town centre. The only thing the operator was saying was an ambulance was on its way."
The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed the control room had received the call but a spokesman said there was "unusually high demand" for the emergency services and "the caller rung off" before it had been possible to despatch the first ambulance that became available.
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