Government must "get a grip" on NHS services in Somerset, Amos urges

510 people in the county, out of a total of 12,915, were forced to wait for 12 hours or longer, NHS England said.

While admitting the new Labour government inherited a difficult situation with the NHS, it had to "get a grip" on the issue, urged Gideon Amos, Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington.

“Twelve or more hours is a huge amount of time to be waiting in any A&E department," Amos said. "The new government must urgently get a grip of this crisis and bring forward a plan to rescue our struggling health services."

The Royal College of Medicine has warned that delays to accessing care or being admitted to a hospital, can “increase a patient’s risk of harm and death” - even after they are discharged from emergency services.

NI exemptions?

Amos is calling for a rescue plan for local health services, including immediately exempting GPs, care homes, and other care providers from the chancellor’s planned national insurance hikes for employers, which could make a bad situation worse.

This would help reduce pressure on overstretched hospitals and ambulance services, he said.

Labour had inherited a broken system from the previous Conservative government, Amos said.

"By ending NHS dentistry in the county and running down our GPs, the last Conservative government stoked up a crisis in hospitals which, for many, have become the only place left to go," he said. "They’ve got a lot to answer for."

The MP said he would be pressing for maximum help for Musgrove Hospital in Taunton from recent decisions in the government's budget.

"Time can be critical when you’re waiting for treatment and long waits in A&E here in Somerset can be dangerous," he said.

The 510 figure represents almost 4 percent of the total number of people seeking A&E treatment in October in Somerset.