Marr: ‘I would be dead if I’d had to wait for doctor’

The BBC’S Andrew Marr has told Theresa May he would be dead if he had faced the kind of waiting times NHS patients have experienced this winter.

The 58-year-old presenter, who had a stroke in January 2013, told the Prime Minister he “would not be here talking to you” if he had been forced to wait for hours for treatment.

During their interview, Mr Marr raised the case of Leah Butlersmith, whose mother waited five hours to see a doctor – including an hour in an ambulance – after having a stroke last week.

Ms Butler-smith posted a video of a queue of ambulances outside a hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, explaining that her mother had suffered a stroke but was

constituency by Andrew Marr for the BBC1 programme The Andrew Marr Show yesterday currently tenth in the queue to be seen.

“Her mother was going in and out of consciousness. If I’d been waiting for five hours before I’d seen a doctor after my stroke, I would not be here talking to you,” Mr Marr told the Prime Minister.

“This is about life and death and up and down the country people are having horrendous experiences of the Nhs...what would you say to Leah Butlersmith and her mother?”

Mrs May said she was unable to comment on an individual case without knowing the details but added: “I recognise that people have concerns if they have an experience of that sort.”

She continued: “If we look at what is happening across the NHS, what we see is that actually the NHS is delivering for more people, it is treating more people and more people are being seen within the four hours every day than... a few years ago. But of course nothing’s perfect and there is more for us to do.”

On funding, it was suggested to Mrs May that she had done nothing to address increased pressure on the social care system.

The Prime Minister replied: “Well yes, we have done something about it, Andrew. I’m sorry, you’re wrong in that.

“We have put extra funding into the social care system and we have worked with hospitals and with local authorities to identify how we can reduce those delayed discharges.”

Mrs May’s comments came as a report called for the creation of an NHS blueprint outlining how to deliver the best possible health outcomes at the lowest cost over the coming decades.

The Centre for Policy Studies think tank has reiterated its desire for a royal commission to examine the health service and outline what its remit should be. It argues such an inquiry must be led by figures from outside politics as it bids to develop a vision to keep the NHS “healthy for decades to come”.