Helen Morgan responds to new Shropshire ambulance data
MP and health campaigner Helen Morgan has said she remains ‘worried sick’ about emergency care in Shropshire but is relieved that some progress has been made.
18 Dec 2023
Helen Morgan pushes for ambulance crisis review ahead of meeting with minister
10 May 2022
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan is pressing for a review into the ambulance crisis in Shropshire ahead of a meeting with Health Minister Edward Agar.
Helen is hoping the minister will commit to a Care Quality Commission review into ambulance services when he meets with Shropshire MPs on Wednesday.
Helen called the meeting as injured patients continue to face waits of up to 12 hours or more to be treated by paramedics in Shropshire. She is keen to work constructively with local MPs and the Government to find solutions to the ongoing crisis.
‘Serious incidents’ where investigations have been required at West Midlands Ambulance Service have more than doubled in the past year due to the overwhelming pressure on paramedics, with numerous examples of people in Shropshire being forced to wait in pain for hours on end due to no ambulances being available.
The Lib Dem MP is urging the Government to commit to passing a law which will publish ambulance waiting times by postcode. The Ambulance Waiting Times Bill would reveal for the first time precisely how patients in Shropshire face different delays to people in urban areas.
It comes after 57 West Midlands Ambulance Service stations were shut in the past seven years, including four in Shropshire at Oswestry, Market Drayton, Bridgnorth and Craven Arms. Helen wants these closures to be reversed.
Pressure on hospitals in Shropshire with emergency departments is contributing to the delays - with many ambulances stuck waiting to handover patients due to beds being blocked – and Helen is keen to work with the health minister to improve this situation.
More than 34,000 hours of ambulance time was lost in April alone due to vehicles being stuck outside hospitals, a six-fold increase on April 2021, and one patient in the region was forced to wait 23 hours to be moved into hospital.
Helen Morgan MP said: “Pressure on our health services here in North Shropshire has been the number one issue raised by constituents since I was elected to represent the area.
“It is not fair that injured people should have to wait so long to be treated – and our paramedics, nurses and doctors do not deserve to be under such constant immense pressure.
“That’s why I called for a meeting with the Health Minister. I’m looking forward to meeting with him and working together to establish a plan to improve the situation for everyone in Shropshire.”
Related Articles