Shocking ambulance statistics revealed by local politician

A shocking statistic highlighting the growing pressure on our ambulance service has ben highlighted by a local politician, with a call for urgent action.

Jane Dodds, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales has called on Montgomeryshire MP, Craig Williams, to pressure the UK Government to provide emergency support to Shrewsbury and Telford A&E’s after revealing that 1,052 ambulances waited more than an hour to hand over patients during October, a rise of more than 20% from the previous month.

She said that the report also found the number of patients on waiting lists for routine treatment grew from 34,443 in September to 35,033.

Despite healthcare being devolved to the Welsh Government, the majority of Montgomeryshire’s population, including those from Newtown and Welshpool, use Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals for both A&E services and outpatient appointments.

Commenting on the developments Ms Dodds stated: “We urgently need Montgomeryshire’s MP Craig Williams to either make a statement on what he is doing to get the Government to improve the deteriorating situation at Shrewsbury and Telford or if he is not already, to push the Government to provide urgent support to the trust.

“Over recent weeks I have heard harrowing stories of people across Montgomeryshire being unable to get the support they need and dealing with extraordinary waiting times.

“Ambulances being backed up waiting in queues at Shrewsbury Hospital has meant they aren’t able to respond as fast to urgent calls, contributing heavily to the fact only 44% of ambulance red calls in Powys were able to be answered within the eight minutes target time.

“These figures show us the NHS in England is continuing to be mismanaged under the Conservatives and has unfortunately been the case long before Covid with Shrewsbury and Telford struggling to cope during many winters.

“None of these struggles are down to the hard work of our fantastic healthcare staff, who try their very best day in a day out with limited resources and under extreme pressure. Craig Williams urgently needs to speak to his colleagues in the Government and secure and urgent assistance and an action plan for reducing the pressures on Shrewsbury and Telford A&E’s.”