On a chilly October day in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, an ordinary visit to a local garden centre turned into a harrowing ordeal for 87-year-old James Craig. After suffering a severe fall that left him with a broken leg and a hip injury, Craig was forced to endure a staggering seven-hour wait for an ambulance, lying in pain on the cold concrete floor as staff and customers did their best to keep him comfortable. His story, which has drawn national attention, shines a spotlight on mounting pressures facing the UK’s emergency medical services in 2025—and the very real human cost of delayed care.
According to the BBC, Craig’s accident occurred at Craigend Nursery and Coffee Shop in Cumbernauld around midday on October 22. He had been enjoying a day out with his daughter when a misstep left him immobilized with excruciating pain. "His leg had swollen up so badly and as soon as you touched it he just screamed in pain," his granddaughter, Mariann Whitson, told BBC News. The family was initially assured that an ambulance would arrive within two hours, given his status as a top-priority patient. But as minutes ticked into hours, hope faded.
During the agonizing wait, staff and visitors at the garden centre rallied to help. They fetched blankets, pillows, and warm drinks, doing what they could to ease Craig’s discomfort and shield him from the cold. Yet, as Whitson described, “After two hours we were told all the ambulances had been re-routed to Glasgow and none were available.” The family’s sense of helplessness grew. “If an 87-year-old man was being left like this, what hope would anyone else have?” she reflected.
Efforts to move Craig proved futile. At one point, a paramedic on the phone suggested the family try lifting him themselves or fashioning a makeshift stretcher—advice that clashed with every health and safety guideline they knew. Each attempt only brought more pain. Eventually, a doctor arrived to administer morphine, but even that relief was brief; the doctor soon had to leave, instructing the family to monitor Craig and call again if his condition worsened.
As the hours dragged on, the garden centre—normally closed by 5:00 pm—remained open, its staff refusing to leave Craig stranded. Finally, as night settled, an ambulance arrived from Stirling. Whitson estimated the time to be around 8:30 pm, though the Scottish Ambulance Service later stated it was about 90 minutes earlier. Craig was transported to Wishaw General Hospital, where he was seen by doctors in the early hours of the following day.
Craig’s ordeal was far from over. He spent several weeks in hospital, ultimately requiring a hip replacement. For days, he was delirious, prompting doctors to test for dementia—though they ultimately determined his confusion was a result of shock. His release from hospital was delayed by difficulties in arranging a full care package, but by mid-December, he was finally home, beginning a long road of physical therapy and rehabilitation.
The Scottish Ambulance Service issued a formal apology, acknowledging the distress caused. "Our service was under significant pressure on 22 October due to sustained and significant pressures at hospitals in the Lanarkshire area, including delays of up to five hours," a spokesperson said in a statement published by BBC News. "We have been working closely with NHS Lanarkshire to support the longest waiting patients but understand the distress to patients caused. These waits also prevent our crews from getting back out on the road to treat other patients." NHS Lanarkshire, for its part, described the case as a matter for the ambulance service.
Craig’s experience is not an isolated one. Across Scotland, ambulance response times have been under scrutiny, with other high-profile cases making headlines in recent months. In September, First Minister John Swinney apologized to a young footballer who waited five hours for an ambulance after breaking her leg. Just weeks later, Health Secretary Neil Gray issued his own apology after Queen’s Park footballer Charles Fox endured a nearly ten-hour wait with a dislocated knee. These stories paint a worrying picture of a system stretched to its limits.
The root causes of these delays are complex and multifaceted. Emergency medical services are grappling with soaring demand, staff shortages, and logistical bottlenecks. One major issue is the so-called "bed-blocking" phenomenon: when hospitals are at or near capacity, ambulances are forced to wait with patients until a bed becomes available, reducing the number of ambulances ready to respond to new emergencies. According to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), this problem is not unique to Scotland. At the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, inspectors found patients waiting more than 24 hours in A&E for a bed, with some being cared for in corridors—an arrangement that compromised their privacy and dignity.
On the day of a CQC inspection in February 2025, 11 people had been in the Brighton hospital’s emergency department for over 24 hours, and the hospital’s emergency care was downgraded to “requires improvement.” Amanda Williams of the CQC noted, “Inspectors found the A&E was severely affected by poor flow across the hospital, leading to delayed ambulance handovers and excessively long waits for admission.” Senior leaders did not always take sufficient action during overcrowding, and staff did not always get timely responses to keep people safe. The hospital has since opened a new acute medical unit and is moving patients to other wards earlier to ease pressure, according to Dr. Andy Heeps, chief executive of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
While some departments, such as maternity services at Royal Sussex, have shown progress—moving from “inadequate” to “requires improvement”—the overall picture remains one of a system under strain. Issues such as the design and environment of maternity units, and limited surgical facilities, highlight the persistent challenges facing the NHS as it seeks to meet rising patient needs.
For families like James Craig’s, the consequences of these systemic pressures are deeply personal. Whitson summed up the loss of confidence many now feel: “I always thought of ambulances as being an urgent medical resource, but I now view them as unreliable—and my faith that they will be here when needed is gone.”
Healthcare leaders insist that efforts are underway to address these issues, from improving patient flow in hospitals to recruiting more staff and enhancing community care services. Yet, as the UK’s population ages and demand for emergency services climbs, the urgency for effective solutions has never been greater. Craig’s experience serves as a stark reminder that behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a community relying on the promise of timely, compassionate care.
In the end, while James Craig is finally home for Christmas, his story is a call to action for policymakers, healthcare providers, and the public alike: the time to strengthen the nation’s emergency care safety net is now.
