Pressure intense on A&E staff

DEBBIE ABRAHAMS: visit to Oldham A&E

OLDHAM MP Debbie Abrahams visited the Royal Oldham Hospital to see how staff are dealing with the pressure in the week 15 hospitals declared major incident status.

Across the country from October to December, 407,844 patients waited more than four hours to be seen compared with 227,400 in the period last year. Over the last fortnight in December, the number who waited more than 12 hours for a bed to become free almost quadrupled to 20,962.

After her tour, Mrs Abrahams — who is parliamentary private secretary to shadow health secretary Andy Burnham — said: “I was very impressed with the staff I met in A&E, especially the way they are coping with the increasing pressure, exacerbated by yet another winter crisis brought about by the Government’s damaging health policies.”