"Government failure to tackle NHS and care crisis is putting patients' lives at risk" - Gripper

A&E wait times through the roof with 681 waiting over 12 hours

New figures released today (12/01/23) have revealed the extent of the NHS crisis in Cornwall.

At Treliske, 1,308 people waited over 4 hours to be seen in December. Even more alarmingly, 681 waited over 12 hours to be seen in December during the winter crisis. Meanwhile, the average ambulance response time for the most urgent incidents in the South West was over 13 minutes in December - the worst in England, and well in excess of the NHS target of 7 minutes.

Response times for urgent conditions such as heart attacks and strokes are even longer. Ambulance response times in the South West for these Category 2 emergencies are now 2 hours 39 minutes, way above the 18-minute target. Again it is the longest average waiting time in England - across the country the average waiting time for Category 2 emergencies is 1 hour 32 minutes.

The Liberal Democrats have set out a five-point plan to tackle the ambulance service crisis. The party is demanding the Government release the money they promised to help discharge patients from hospitals, as soon as possible.

Ruth Gripper, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Truro and Falmouth said:

"The Government's failure to tackle the crisis in our NHS and social care system is letting people down right across the country, and people in Cornwall are suffering the worst of it. This is putting patients' lives at risk. Unacceptable and heartbreaking delays mean the Government is falling far short even on its own targets.

"How much more evidence do Ministers need? This crisis hasn't happened overnight - for months and months now we have seen ambulances stuck at Treliske, the pressures have been apparent but it seems the government has only just started to wake up to the crisis. They either don't care or just can't grasp the scale of this problem and they are letting down patients, their families and the hardworking staff who are trying to provide care in desperate conditions.

"Far too many people in Cornwall are having to wait far too long to get the treatment they need. In many cases, this is literally a matter of life or death. People in our area deserve far better.

"We need action from the Conservatives. Liberal Democrats are demanding the Government release the money they promised to help discharge patients from hospitals, and launch a campaign to recruit the extra paramedics and ambulance staff we need. We need a proper workforce plan for the NHS, and a plan for social care, and we need them yesterday."

Ambulance Crisis - The Liberal Democrats' 5 Point Winter Plan

• Launch a campaign to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance service staff.
• Bring forward a fully funded programme to get people who are medically well enough discharged from hospital and set up with appropriate social care and support.
• In addition to getting people out of hospital so that they get care in a more comfortable setting, the number of beds in hospitals needs to be increased to end excessive handover delays for ambulances, caused by a lack of bed capacity.
• Expand mental health support services to get people the appropriate care they need and reduce the number of call outs for ambulances for mental health reasons.
• Pass Daisy Cooper MP's Ambulance Waiting Times Bill into law that would require accessible, localised reports of ambulance response times to be published. This would ensure that 'hot spots' with some of the longest waiting times can be identified routinely. 12 hour waits at A&E should also be published from arrival at hospital rather than the 'decision to admit' as is current practice, so that the true scale of the problem is clear for all to see.

Ambulance Categories and Targets

These figures refer to Category 1 incidents: An immediate response to a life threatening condition, such as cardiac or respiratory arrest. The NHS target is an average response time to these incidents of 7 minutes, and for 90% of them to be responded to within 15 minutes. Source.

A&E Targets

Four-hour A&E waiting time target is a pledge set out in the Handbook to the NHS Constitution. The operational standard is that at least 95% of patients attending A&E should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. Source