NHS Backlog

Steve Darling Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered backlogs in the NHS.

Happy new year to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate. I applied for it because many Members were interested in having the chance to discuss the problems and consult constructively on the potential solutions for the NHS across the country. It has ended up being a particularly timely debate given the Secretary of State’s statement this afternoon, which we broadly welcomed.

The Conservatives have pushed the NHS to breaking point, leaving a legacy that includes the biggest waiting list in history and a healthcare system on the brink of collapse. We have reached a crisis point of backlogs in the NHS system. They affect not only those who are in dire need of medical care, but the wonderful staff who work tirelessly in hospitals, GP surgeries, dental surgeries, pharmacies, social care providers, hospices and so on. The situation in Shropshire right now demonstrates the scale of the crisis.

The pressure is extreme on every aspect of healthcare and reflects the fact that in many cases rural areas are bearing the brunt of a national problem. Shropshire’s NHS has declared a critical incident—one of many across the country, I know—as staff battle to cope with the huge winter spike of viruses. That means that people cannot visit their loved ones on a regular basis, and are required to wear a mask when they go into the hospital. That is just one example of how the system is failing to cope with the pressure.

Understandably, talk about NHS backlogs centres on the 7.5 million cases waiting for treatment. But backlogs also apply to the overflowing A&E waiting rooms and to the long lines of ambulances queuing outside. They apply to the elderly people who have fallen and waited many hours for an ambulance. They apply to possible heart attack and stroke patients being told to make their own way to hospital by West Midlands ambulance service at certain times this year. Outside Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals last Sunday—the latest day we have data for—ambulances waited an average of three hours and 48 minutes to hand over a patient. Across England on the same day, 2,620 patients had to spend more than an hour stuck in an ambulance waiting for space to become available at A&E.

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

In my constituency, our hospital faces almost 700 sewage leaks, which has an impact on its ability to provide services. That is another pressure. Does my hon. Friend agree that the sooner the Government advise on what investment they will make to enhance services for our hospitals across the UK, the better?

[Helen Morgan]

I had not put the crumbling estate into my speech, but my hon. Friend makes a very valid point, because people cannot work efficiently when they are dealing with terrible hygiene and safety issues around them every single day.