Labour MP tweets father’s A&E ordeal amid record emergency queues
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, has been waiting for over 12 hours with her father in A&E.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Labour MP has spoken out about her father’s more than 12-hour A&E wait, as new figures showed that a record number of people are enduring long waits in emergency rooms.
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, tweeted her and her father’s ongoing experience of an A&E waiting room as she described “overwhelmed” NHS staff.
Just before 9pm on Wednesday evening, she tweeted to say that she was in A&E with her father.
By early afternoon on Thursday, they were still there.
She said: “My dad is ill, my brother called 111 at 10am. They said he needed a paramedic and would send an ambulance.
“It never came. I got back from London in my car this evening, I drove because I simply cannot rely on trains anymore in the UK.
“We are now in A&E.”
Throughout the night and into Thursday morning, Ms Phillips offered a series of tweets documenting the experience, interspersed with criticisms of former health secretary Matt Hancock’s first appearance on ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
“Still in A&E. Staff are lovely but so overwhelmed,” the Labour MP tweeted at 2.28am.
At 11.33am on Thursday, she tweeted: “I should be in my constituency office right now alas I’m in a waiting room.”
Ms Phillips and her father are not alone in facing such ordeals, according to new data from NHS England.
The latest data shows that the number of people waiting more than 12 hours from a decision to admit them to actually getting a bed rising to a new record high.
Some 43,792 people waited longer than 12 hours in October, up 34% from 32,776 in September and the highest number in records going back to August 2010.