Watford MP went for a ride with ambulance crews to see first hand how the service works.

Dean Russell visited the Watford Ambulance Station on Friday, January 13, a week after he welcomed the health secretary Steve Barclay to Watford General Hospital.

Mr Russell said: “We discussed the need for paramedics to be able to do patient handover much quicker so that the crews can get back out on the road responding to emergency calls much sooner.” 

 

He added that the NHS is facing a “challenging period” with high demand and delays.

To give this some context, on Tuesday, December 20, the East of England Ambulance Service received nearly 1,000 more calls than they would expect on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day – usually its busiest days. 

Dominic Hughes, assistant general manager for Watford Ambulance Station, said: “It is useful for MPs to see and learn about how our service works, particularly when we are dealing with the challenges of the winter period.” 

Mr Russell added that the government is working hard to reduce ambulance waiting times.

NHS England has allocated an additional £150 million to address ambulance service pressures in 2022/23 and support improvements to response times through call handler recruitment and retention.