MP speaks out as thousands wait more than 4 hours A&E at City Hospital in Birmingham

Almost 8,000 people have had to wait more than four hours for emergency care at A&Es in Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust in July 2022.

Figures from the NHS reveal that 7,941 people had to wait hours for urgent care, including at the A&E at Birmingham City Hospital.

Accident and emergency departments across the country are facing huge pressures.. 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.

What’s been said about the figures?

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

Birmingham City Hospital is within the Ladywood constituency, and commenting on the figures, Shabana Mahmood MP said she is concerned the delays are putting people off going to A&E despite needing urgent care.

She 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.”

Six hour waits at University Hospitals Birmingham

Previous NHS figures also revealed patients were waiting nearly six hours in A&E at Birmingham hospitals as the medical situation ‘deteriorated’ over the past year.

Increases in waiting times and agency staff spending were all discussed in a University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) one top NHS chief claimed “green shoots” were starting to appear related to the Covid backlog.

A Council of Governors meeting heard four-hour waits had got worse at all hospitals under the management of UHB. The average time spent in A&E increased by 10.1% to 349 minutes in June, compared to 317 in May.

Admitted patients spent, on average, 596 minutes receiving treatment and non-admitted patients 254 minutes. Both figures showed a fall from figures recorded in May.

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