Council Inquiry Highlighted Delays in January this Year
Lewisham’s head of scrutiny Councillor Alan Hall is calling on the London Ambulance Service to respond to this week’s news that dangerous delays in emergency ambulance waiting times are continuing in London.
“This is very worrying news indeed” said Cllr Alan Hall, who called and chaired an inquiry into ambulance and waiting times in January this year. “The ambulance service told our inquiry of the many actions they were taking to tackle the crisis which we welcomed. The fact that the crisis is still continuing is the responsibility of the government must be firmly laid at the door of Jeremy Hunt and the Tory government.
“I share the concerns of the London Ambulance Service Patients’ Forum, which obtained the figures, that the delays are “totally appalling” and the health of patients is being put at risk.
”Ambulance staff do an amazing job under the circumstances and deserve the proper tools, resources and pay for them to provide a service to the people of Lewisham and London.”
According to the Patients’ Forum, some patients are spending in excess of two hours on trolleys in corridors or waiting areas, despite a 15-minute NHS target for them to be handed over. It also means London Ambulance Service crews, who wait alongside the patient, cannot respond to the next 999 call.
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