North Shropshire by-election candidates call for ambulance stations to reopen
The Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates in the North Shropshire by-election have both called for the reopening of ambulance stations in Oswestry and Market Drayton.
Both stations were among 10 closed in October by West Midlands Ambulance Service. Bosses said the closures would save crews time and free up vital funds to plough back into front-line services.
Labour's Ben Wood has written to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, saying "lives will be lost" this winter if the stations do not reopen.
And Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Brinton raised the matter in the House of Lords after the party's candidate Helen Morgan said she had heard about patients waiting for hours.
Baroness Brinton said: "The Shropshire Star reported that West Midlands Ambulance Service apologised because ambulance and hospital handover times were now four hours.
"This is happening all over the country & people are dying waiting for paramedics. This is before the expected winter surge starts. What is the Government’s emergency plan right now?"
Lord Kamall said many of the pressures were the result of the Covid pandemic, and added that the Government was investing £55 million in the recruitment of 700 new staff. A further £4.4 million would be spent on keeping an additional 154 ambulances in service, he said.
Mr Wood said after speaking to local families over the past week, he had heard of patients waiting up to 12 hours for ambulances to arrive.
He said that, if elected, he would call for the reopening of the stations in his maiden speech.
“During this campaign I have lost count of the number of horror stories I have heard from local people who have waited hours on end for ambulances," said.
“These heart-breaking stories are just the tip of the iceberg. As we enter winter I fear lives will be lost because of the negligence.
