Urgent and Emergency Care

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

Again, despite that colourful language, we have more doctors, more nurses and more paramedics. We are training more and meeting more demand, and significant additional funding has been applied to ambulance trusts, call handling and other parts of the system, including primary care. Part of reducing the demand on the ambulance system is related to GP capacity, which is why—to take that as an example—an additional £1.5 billion of funding has gone in.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and for his clear financial commitment to trying to address the issue of ambulance response. I also congratulate the new leader of the Conservative party. In her statement at dinnertime, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss) said that the NHS is one of her main priorities.

The Secretary of State will know that this week is Air Ambulance Week, which runs from 5 September to 11 September. Today, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland stated that it has had its busiest year ever, so will the Secretary of State allocate additional funds to the devolved Administrations, particularly in Northern Ireland, to help cope with the increasing use of air ambulances due to delayed response times and extortionate waiting lists?

[Steve Barclay]

I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman on the importance of the air ambulance. As a rural MP, I know full well the importance of the service it provides across the Cambridgeshire fens, and I know that it provides an essential service for his constituents. Again, if there are any specific issues, I am happy to ensure that the Department looks at them, but he is absolutely right to draw attention to the importance of the air ambulance within the wider response.