Letter for publication: Injured pensioner left in street for one hour waiting for ambulance
Dear Editor,
‘Injured pensioner left in street for one hour waiting for ambulance’ ( Times Feb19th) is a disgraceful indictment of the state of the London Ambulance Service(LAS) In Barnet. Less than half – just 48% – of the LAS’s emergency calls in Barnet are answered within their target time, about the worst performance in London.
This is not the fault of the ambulance paramedics, who are highly skilled and work hard to do their best with limited resources. It is the fault of the Conservative Government, who have left the LAS with inadequate staffing levels, and whose A&E failings mean ambulances are backed up at A&Es waiting to transfer patients, instead of being out on the next call.
Why have Barnet’s Conservative MPs been silent yet again on their NHS failures, which leave injured pensioners lying in the street suffering pain and distress like this poor old lady? If they hadn’t wasted billions on the reorganisation they promised they would not do before the last election, the NHS emergency services might not be in such dire straights as they now are.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Dismore
Labour Parliamentary candidate for Hendon
London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
