Councillors write to Health Secretary over 'broken' healthcare system

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies, Andy Burford, Kelly Middleton and Derek White penned a joint letter calling for urgent attention.

It comes after Colin Nuttall was issued an apology by West Midlands Ambulance Service after his 72-year-old father James was left waiting more than 10 hours for an ambulance.

In the letter, the councillors said: "Across the borough, NHS primary, secondary and urgent care and local authority social care services are under extreme pressure. With winter looming we have serious concerns that many people’s lives will be lost unless the government recognises the issues and acts.

"Services here are stretched to breaking point. Our hospitals are full and there are unacceptable delays in health care causing emotional and physical harm to people in our communities.

"The reasons for this are complex and not unique to Telford and Wrekin but, as a responsible local authority who have a commitment to care for and protect our communities, it is our duty to make you aware of the long-lasting impacts being felt by our residents and those who are desperate to support them.

"Across the system, whether in the ambulance service, GP services, hospitals or within home care, those working on the front line are doing their very best to give the best possible care but the national system is ‘broken’ and failing them.

"The pressure on primary care and the resulting difficulties that our residents are facing around access to GP appointments together with insufficient community health care sees an increasing number of people seeking support from emergency services. West Midlands Ambulance Service are ‘on their knees’ with waits of up to six hours for those experiencing life-threatening incidents such as heart attack or stroke.

"When arriving at Accident & Emergency, many patients have faced trolley waits of more than 12 hours.

"Add this to an increasing number of COVID patients and a backlog of elective care caused by the pandemic at a time when recruitment and retention in health and care is a major issue and we are in a perfect storm.

"The investment into the NHS announced in the recent budget is welcome. However, we are yet to understand what proportion of this money is available locally and whether it will be enough to make a difference in the areas that need it most."