Health Secretary 'distressed and ashamed’ for patients as six hospitals declare critical incidents amid winter flu virus
7 January 2025, 15:22 | Updated: 7 January 2025, 15:59
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told LBC he is "distressed and ashamed" about what patients are going through as six hospitals have declared critical incidents in their A&Es.
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Warnings have been issued in Plymouth, Hampshire, Birmingham and on Merseyside and some patients have had to wait up to 50 hours to be seen.
Shelagh gave Streeting a challenge, saying "if in four years, 80 year olds are still waiting on floors or trollies in hospitals, it's safe to say you have failed".
Mr Streeting agreed, telling Shelagh that "we are taking people in ambulances to die."
Mr Streeting said he is determined to "save the NHS that saved my life and to build the national care service this country deserves".
He also stated that if the government doesn’t achieve their "ambitious" targets for the NHS it’s "my head on the chopping block"
It's been a turbulent start to the year for Labour ministers so far, and the NHS is struggling again amid a spike in seasonal viruses.
And it comes after polling carried out for LBC revealed that one in four voters who backed Labour last year now regrets it.
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When asked by LBC's Shelagh Fogarty if what’s going on in the UK's A&Es is a national emergency, Mr Streeting said the NHS is "broken, not beaten".
He added he was "extremely forthright" at the start of his tenure as Health Secretary and attracted some criticism for his comments.
Mr Streeting then said there are more more beds taken up with flu at the moment than usual, but that "annual winter pressures should not lead to an annual winter crisis".
Over the Christmas period, Mr Streeting stated he "popped into the Derriford hospital in Plymouth to look at the A&E there.
He said that it "pops up every winter crisis" because they have particular challenges - despite staff's efforts and a "great new chief executive".
He added: "I am never going to pretend that when there are problems that everything is alright. I will do everything I can to make sure that we see consistent improvement.. it is going to take time.
"I feel genuinely distressed and ashamed about some off the things that patients are experiencing."
When probed on a plan for A&E and ambulance services, Mr Streeting said they will shortly publish an emergency care reform plan and are looking at this winter to plan for the next.
When asked by caller Melissa, an NHS consultant surgeon, about pay and pensions, Streeting says he recognises the importance of the NHS workforce but that because of the financial pressures: "I am less worried about the consultants, we need you, I value your expertise and we should pay you."
He adds: "I am doing as much as I can as fast as I can, to build a new mutual respect between NHS staff and the government."
He stated that if the government don’t achieve their "ambitious" targets for the NHS it’s "my head on the chopping block" as Keir Starmer "won’t be happy with me and neither will the public".
The challenges are enormous but we’re going "hell for leather", he added.
Streeting saaid Labour are "making unpopular decisions because ‘we’ve got to get this country out of a hole".
But he urged listeners to give the government "the benefit of the doubt".
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has declared a "critical incident" due to "exceptionally high demand" on services and urged people to only go to A&E in a genuine medical emergency.
The hospital said it was "extremely busy" amid a rising number of patients with flu and other respiratory conditions, prompting Liverpool Riverside Labour MP Kim Johnson to call on the government to come up with a plan to increase NHS funding.
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust also said there was a "critical incident" at Basingstoke and Winchester hospitals due to "sustained pressures" while University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust also declared a critical incident because of "significant and rising demand for hospital care".
The East Midlands Ambulance Service - which covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire - has declared the first critical incident in its history due to a combination of "significant patient demand, pressure within hospitals and flooding".
