Scottish families demand reform after ambulance delays cause deaths

Two Scottish families have united to demand urgent reforms to the ambulance service after the deaths of their loved ones. Julie Parker of Kilmarnock died in June after waiting almost four hours for an ambulance, and Brian Hurton of East Kilbride died months earlier on his bathroom floor after two 999 calls were mistakenly logged and no ambulance was dispatched for three and a half hours.

The siblings – William Parker and Allison Hurton – are scheduled to meet Scotland’s Health Secretary Angela Constance, who has promised a new national plan to address waiting‑time crises. They criticize the Scottish Ambulance Service’s handling of the calls, noting that both were incorrectly classified as “teal” instead of the urgent “purple” level, and they call for systemic changes to call‑handler training and response protocols.

The families say the tragedies highlight broader failures in the emergency medical system and urge that no other families endure similar loss.