A 55-year-old woman, Julie Parker, died in June after waiting four hours for an ambulance to arrive at her home in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. First Minister John Swinney acknowledged the delay as "unacceptable", whilst acting Scottish Labour leader Dame Jackie Baillie used the case to criticise the SNP Government, accusing it of dishonesty and broken promises on improving ambulance response times. The case highlights ongoing concerns about emergency service provision in Scotland and has prompted political scrutiny of the Government's handling of the crisis.

Ms Parker collapsed in her bathroom and was discovered by police, who called for assistance multiple times over several hours. The Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Ayrshire and Arran are conducting a joint Significant Adverse Event Review into the case. Mr Swinney confirmed that the Health Secretary would engage with Ms Parker's family to discuss the incident and expressed condolences, whilst acknowledging that the transcript of the 999 call was "profoundly disturbing" and required examination. Dame Jackie Baillie noted that the First Minister had repeatedly promised to resolve ambulance service problems over preceding months without delivering results.