Figures from the NHS reveal that 7,941 people had to wait more than four hours for emergency care at A&Es in Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust.

The trust includes the A&E at City Hospital, within the Birmingham Ladywood constituency.

Accident and emergency departments across the country are facing huge pressures. As the Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, admitted, a decade of Conservative mismanagement left the health service “wanting and inadequate” when the pandemic struck.

There are now also 6.73 million people on the NHS waiting list in England as of June 2022. This is the highest ever recorded. Now, 1 in every 9 people in England are on the NHS waiting list.

The NHS went into the latest wave of Covid infections with the longest waiting list ever, understaffed and overstretched.

Commenting, Shabana Mahmood MP said: 

“People in Ladywood requiring emergency medical attention at City Hospital are being left for hours, often in serious pain.

“I’m very worried that these delays are putting people off going to A&E who need medical attention. Unacceptable waits will mean people in Ladywood could fall through the cracks.

“Let me be clear: this isn’t down to hardworking NHS staff, it’s down to this Conservative Government.

“The Government’s response to the crisis in A&E is to scrap the zero tolerance for 12 hour waits. At the same time as they are putting up taxes on working people, they are lowering standards for patients. We’re paying more but waiting longer.

“Our NHS is crying out for a change in government to give us the fresh start we need.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• Source: Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data 2022-23, A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2022-23
• Population figure source: ONS Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2020