David Chadwick Presses Labour Over Extraordinary Ambulance Waiting Times

During Wales Questions in the House of Commons, the Welsh Liberal Democrat raised an example from his constituency where an 82-year-old man was forced to drive his wife who had suffered from a stroke from Rhayader to Hereford, a drive of over an hour and 15 minutes through winding and poorly maintained country roads, while she was paralysed and vomiting without medical assistance.

The resident was forced to make the trip himself after he had waited two hours for an ambulance, only to then be told there could be an additional wait of four to seven hours.

David Chadwick described the wait as abysmal, but unfortunately not uncommon in border communities up and down Wales and has called on the UK and Welsh governments to do more to tackle ambulance delays.

In particular, he has stated more should be done to address the crisis in social care. Hospital patients are not being discharged due to the lack of social care spaces available resulting in beds being blocked and ambulances queuing for hours outside of major local hospitals like Hereford.

He has also warned that the Government’s national insurance rise for care providers risks making the situation much worse and has called on Labour to cancel the policy.

This follows a statement last month by Care Forum Wales that the measures announced by Labour in the UK Government Budget could cause “a collapse in the social care system in Wales”; with a £150 million funding hole needing to be plugged as a result of the changes announced.

Mr Chadwick MP said: “Residents across Powys and right across Wales are having to wait extraordinarily long for ambulances to arrive during their hour of need. Most people I know in Powys have either experienced this themselves or know someone who has. 

“It is frightening for local residents that a seven-hour wait for an ambulance is no longer considered an unusual case.

“None of this is the fault of our fantastic healthcare workers who are working extremely hard under challenging circumstances.

“Labour’s decision to increase the national insurance payments of social care providers only risks making the situation at our A&Es even worse.

“If social care providers shut down as the sector is warning, there will be more blocked beds at hospitals and even more ambulances will be left queuing unable to attend their next call.

“Labour must reverse this disastrous policy. Everyone deserves to be able to know that in their hour of need an ambulance will be there for them and I will continue to fight my constituents' corner on this key issue.”