Young footballer who injured knee ‘had hypothermia when ambulance arrived’

North Shropshire Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan is calling on the Health Secretary to address the county’s lack of accident and emergency services and the loss of local ambulance stations

A young footballer waited so long for an ambulance after injuring his knee that he was suffering from hypothermia when he finally arrived, an MP has claimed.

North Shropshire Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan is calling on Health Secretary Sajid Javid to tackle the county’s lack of accident and emergency services and the loss of local ambulance stations.

She is also concerned about the knock-on effects on residents of four critical incidents called at the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Telford this year.

At a meeting of Oswestry City Council, Ms Morgan cited the case of a boy who was playing football at school and dislocated his knee.

When an ambulance arrived, he was suffering from hypothermia, she said.

When she raised the matter with West Midlands Ambulance, she was told they had lost around 800 hours sitting outside hospitals that day.

Oswestry Ambulance Station closed in October last year, with North Shropshire services continuing to be provided by the West Midlands Ambulance Service in conjunction with the Welsh Ambulance Service.

But the meeting heard Welsh ambulances appear to be taking longer to deal with patients in Wales and not as many are available to deal with people who need them in Oswestry.

Ms Morgan said: “When the ambulance station in Oswestry closed, it was said that most ambulances dealing with incidents in the city not only did not have enough capacity there, but were coming from Shrewsbury anyway, meaning there was hardly any Need for a hub in gave city.

“But as we’ve seen since, and particularly recently with the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust crisis, not only are people in the north of the country suffering the knock-on effect of ambulances being piled up in hospitals, but there is one available that does has to travel a long way across the county.

“I think the problem is even more acute in Wales because the area is more rural.”

Ms Morgan said she had brought the issue before Parliament through a series of letters and questions to the Health Secretary, to which she had not received “much of an answer”.

She then made a point of order for an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Monday, she said.

“It takes someone overseeing the whole NHS nationally to come here and listen to some of the stories and problems people are having,” she said, “because it seems like it’s getting worse.”

“The Government’s response at this time is so unacceptable that it no longer recognizes the problems faced by people outside Westminster.”

Ms Morgan said she was also in discussions with City Council about reconvening the Oswestry Health Forum set up under former MP Owen Paterson.

She added: “One of the problems, especially at weekends, is a lack of available staff, as dealt with at A&E.

‘The health forum has proven very useful as a point of discussion for these issues, which can then be taken up and raised at the relevant foundations or at the national level.’