Waiting shame

THE experience suffered by Labour MP Jess Phillips will be familiar to anyone who has needed to use the NHS recently.

She ended up driving her father to A&E after waiting seven hours for an ambulance.

He then had to wait 18 hours in a hospital chair before he was treated.

This is not an isolated incident. Figures show that last month a record 43,792 patients in England waited more than 12 hours.

Staff – providing exemplary care in the most testing of circumstances – are not to blame

It’s the fault of a Tory government that has driven our prized NHS into the ground.