North Shropshire MP uses Parliament to urge the Government to do more to tackle the ambulance crisis

Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons yesterday, Helen highlighted the hundreds of examples of ambulance delays.

“It was clear throughout my election campaign, and from my inbox since then, that stories of excessive waits for an ambulance were not a rarity” Helen went on to say that her team had been met by a “tidal wave of correspondence”.

Helen also used the speech to raise the problems surrounding the ambulance crisis including a chronic lack of funding and a handover problem at the hospital. 

Helen was also keen to propose solutions to the crisis, such as passing her colleague Daisy Cooper’s Ambulance Waiting Times Bill. She also used the time in Parliament to urge the Health Secretary to commission the CQC to investigate the reasons behind ambulance delays.

Speaking in Parliament Helen said:

“Mr Speaker, the reason I brought this debate to Parliament was to ensure the Government understand the scale of the problem in Shropshire, but crucially to make sure they recognise the urgency in resolving it.

"How many more elderly citizens have to wait 10 hours with their front door open for an ambulance?

"How many more people have to wait at the roadside with strangers on their deathbed?

"How many more young adults have to develop hypothermia when they have initially only dislocated their knee?

"How many more cases of serious harm, or even avoidable death, will it take?”

Many people have been taking to social media recently to share their experiences of long waiting times for an ambulance in Shropshire.

In Shrewsbury yesterday a man was reported to have been lying on the pavement for over four hours in the Coleham Head area following an incident. A number of people were reported to have stayed with the man covering him with blankets to keep him warm whilst they waited for an ambulance.