Keir Starmer asks Sunak to apologize for ‘deadly disorder’ in ambulance service | health policy

[ad_1]

Keir Starmer urged Rishi Sunak to apologize for ambulance wait times and the “deadly mess he had under his watch”.

In Questions to the Prime Minister, he asked how long, on average, it would take for an ambulance to arrive at that moment by someone with chest pain, and also highlighted a real-world example of a 26-year-old woman who died while waiting for one.

Sunak has largely avoided direct answers to Starmer’s questioning, instead repeatedly asking the Labor leader why he does not support the government’s planned anti-strike law, which would impose minimum service levels in some public services, including Ambulances and healthcare.

At the start of the pair’s conversations, Starmer asked: “It’s three minutes past 12. If someone calls 999 now because they have chest pains and fear it may be a heart attack, when will the prime minister expect an ambulance to arrive?”

Sinak responded that the government was “rapidly implementing measures to improve ambulance delivery times”, but did not respond.

Starmer continued, “The prime minister can shrug off whatever he likes, but for someone with chest pains, the clock has started ticking right away — every minute counts.”

After the prime minister refused to answer the same question again, speaking instead of anti-strike law, Starmer said Sunak “clearly doesn’t know or care” about waiting times for ambulances.

On average, the ambulance used to treat chest pain arrives at 12.03pm at 2.10pm for a patient in Peterborough, at 2.20pm in Northampton and at 2.40pm in Plymouth, Starmer said.

He added, “A person who fears a heart attack waits more than two and a half hours for an ambulance. Not the worst case scenario, just an average wait. So for one week he’ll stop blaming others, take some responsibility, and just admit that on his watch, the NHS is in crisis, right? “

Sunak responded that the NHS was “dealing with unprecedented challenges, recovering from Covid, dealing with a very virulent and early flu season”, arguing that the situation was worse in Labor-run Wales.

Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, for free every morning of the week

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements, and content funded by third parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Starmer replied, “It will not answer any questions and will not take any responsibility.” The Labor leader cited the example of Stephanie, a 26-year-old woman with cancer, who died while waiting for an ambulance after collapsing in Plymouth.

“So on behalf of Stephanie and her family, would you please stop making excuses, stop shifting blame, stop the political games and simply tell us when he’s going to sort out these delays and get back to the 18-minute wait?” Starmer said, referring to the target response time for so-called Category 2 calls such as chest pain.

Instead, Sunak called Starmer “a vivid example of political game play when it comes to people’s health”.

The Labor leader said: “Here’s his response to the Stephanie family: sidetrack, blame others, never take responsibility. If he doesn’t answer any questions, will he at least apologize for the deadly mess he’s had under his watch?”

Sunak refused to do so, using an apparently pre-written line about what he called Starmer’s “freedom of movement of principles”.

[ad_2]