Patient waited TWO DAYS in ambulance for A&E bed - 'Desperate crisis'

Row of ambulances

A patient was stuck in the back of an ambulance for nearly two days while they waited for a hospital bed

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Georgina Cutler

By Georgina Cutler


Published: 19/03/2023

- 13:28

NHS bosses say hospitals are encountering ‘record pressures on emergency care’

A patient was stuck in the back of an ambulance for nearly two days as they waited for a hospital bed amid the "worst crisis" in NHS history.

The revelation comes after a series of NHS strikes, backlogs and staff shortages.


In the worst case, recorded by The South Western Ambulance Service, a patient was left waiting for 40 hours and 48 minutes.

While another person was stranded in an ambulance for 36 hours before being admitted to hospital in the East of England.

Ambulances outside A&E

Every trust apart from three said patients were stuck in ambulances for record times last year

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A total of 153,000 patients waited more than one hour in the back of ambulances outside of hospital this winter.

The delays have fuelled the crisis as ambulances are prevented from responding to more 999 calls.

Every trust apart from three said patients were stuck in ambulances for record times last year.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, whose team unveiled the statistics through the Freedom of Information Act, said the NHS is “in a desperate crisis”.

“Patients spending two days in the back of an ambulance just to get through the front door of the hospital proves it is not working,” he told the Sun.

The MP has called for more medical training places to produce extra doctors and nurses to support the NHS frontline.

An NHS spokesperson said hospitals are experiencing “record pressures on emergency care”.

They added: “NHS staff have worked exceptionally hard to continue to provide patients with care during a sustained period of pressure”.

Wes Streeting talking

Wes Streeting said the NHS is 'in a desperate crisis'

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A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: "Our ambulance clinicians strive every day to give their best to patients.

“But our performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, partly due to handover delays at emergency departments.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “No one should have to wait longer than necessary to access urgent and emergency care and waiting times have substantially reduced from the peak of winter pressures in December.”

The Department said more money is being given to the NHS to ease pressures.

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