Ambulance and Emergency Department Waiting Times

Mr Duncan Baker highlighted the severe ambulance response time issues in North Norfolk, particularly concerning category C2 and C3 responses. He cited specific instances of constituents experiencing strokes while en route to hospitals due to delayed ambulances. Mr Baker noted that 95% occupancy levels contribute significantly to the problem at emergency departments like Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which had lost 723 equivalent ambulance shifts in the first 13 weeks of the year. He also emphasised issues with unnecessary ambulance calls and insufficient social care support.

Described the imminent collapse of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, highlighting patient deaths due to delays and sharing a constituent's story where an elderly mother waited 18 hours for an ambulance. Emphasised staff shortages, particularly in rural areas, and called for CQC investigation into ambulance service delays.

Mr. Paisley pointed out that fifty per cent of Northern Ireland's budget is allocated to the health service, emphasizing the need for effective management and spending of funds in addition to the financial investment.

Thanked NHS and care workers for their efforts, highlighted significant challenges in north Staffordshire with ambulance delays and demand at the Royal Stoke A&E, including 12-hour waits. Noted ongoing impact of the pandemic on social care availability and hospital occupancy levels over 90%. Emphasised the need to address deep-seated issues such as PFI hospital construction and integration of healthcare services.

Jerome Mayhew focused on hospital handover delays, stating that the national standard of 15 minutes for handovers is often not met. He highlighted that in June at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the average handover time was 57 minutes. He also pointed out that in April, over 20,000 people who were medically fit to be discharged remained in hospital beds due to issues with intermediate care spaces or lack of care packages.

Ms Smyth expressed concern about the increasing number of people waiting for NHS treatment, highlighting a shortage of 100,000 staff and 17,000 fewer beds. She cited examples of patients waiting in ambulances outside emergency departments for over four hours and response times far exceeding targets. Ms Smyth emphasized the need to address workforce shortages across the entire NHS system, improve social care provision, and incentivize collaboration between different parts of the healthcare system. The Minister talks about the bed reduction but fails to recognise that it was in the context of increasing primary and community care. The private sector capacity was brought in to address horrendous waiting lists following 18 years of Conservative government.

The north-east's healthcare system is in crisis due to staffing shortages, lack of GPs, waiting lists for routine operations, hospital bed losses, and cuts to mental health services. The North East Ambulance Service reports unacceptable waiting times for emergencies, with 10% of patients waiting over three hours and some up to five hours for urgent conditions. There were also allegations of patient safety cover-ups within NEAS.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine's survey found that two-thirds of A&E clinical leads are not confident their organisation will cope this winter. Margaret Greenwood highlighted the case of Sheila, a 72-year-old woman who passed away due to delays in receiving emergency care. The investigation revealed issues with ambulance capacity and hospital turnaround delays contributing to the delay. I have expressed extreme concern about patients discharged under discharge to assess and their clinical outcomes. I am requesting a review of patient outcomes for all such discharges to see how many were readmitted within 30 days.

The NHS is facing a workforce crisis with a shortage of 94,000 staff and a lack of beds due to care shortages. Ambulance response times are significantly longer than the targets in the North West, particularly for category 2 cases which can mean the difference between life and death. Patients waiting more than four hours to be seen in A&E are becoming common, leading to severe stress on the healthcare system.

Described the reality of long waits and short stays in A&E, highlighting that demand outstrips capacity. Mentioned that waiting lists for mental health intervention have increased by 800 days for children in Bradford compared to other areas. Discussed a personal example with a stroke patient who faced a 45-minute wait for an ambulance, noting the impact on both patients and communities. Cited statistics showing UK's second lowest number of beds per 1,000 inhabitants in the EU and highlighted that mental health crises can lead to long waits, costing the NHS more. Emphasised public dissatisfaction with NHS due to lack of resources from the Government.

He highlighted the pressure on staff and management of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, noting specific instances where service delivery was inadequate. He mentioned an increase in waiting times at the hospital, with a peak wait of 16 hours, due to difficulties discharging patients to free up beds. Aldous discussed initiatives aimed at relieving pressures, but stressed that they are temporary measures not addressing root causes.

Ms Maskell discussed the staffing and capacity issues in York, highlighting that handovers took more than an hour for 24.6% of arrivals in May, with non-admitted patients waiting an average of four hours and 18 minutes in A&E and admitted patients nine hours and 22 minutes. She emphasised the mental health impact on staff due to long working hours and trauma from delays in patient care.

Mr. Foord highlighted that every household in his part of Devon had a personal story about the impact of ambulance waiting times, stating that these delays led to undignified scenes such as a woman who waited 14 hours for an ambulance after falling down.