MPs hear about life on the frontline
Three Members of Parliament have visited crews in their local constituencies to hear about the frontline delivery of our ambulance service.
Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield visited Newton Aycliffe station; Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham visited Consett station; and Kate Osborne, MP for Jarrow visited Hebburn station as well as the Emergency Operations Centre at Russell House, one of three EOCs covering the North East.
Staff at all three sites spoke about the challenges they faced at work, in particular queuing at hospital waiting to handover patients and the knock-on delay that this causes for those patients needing an ambulance in the community. It is recognised that this is a symptom of the system pressures felt by hospitals waiting to discharge patients in need of social care into the community.
If you would like to request a similar visit, please email mark.cotton@neas.nhs.uk