North West sees biggest drop in ambulance staff in the country

Cumbrian MP Tim Farron is urging the Government to launch an emergency recruitment campaign after it was revealed that the number of ambulance staff in the North West has fallen more than anywhere else in England.

Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats found the region has lost 656 ambulance workers since 2015.

It comes after new stats from the NHS found that almost one in four of all patients arriving by ambulance in South Cumbria and North Lancashire in the week beginning December 12th waited more than an hour be handed over to A&E.

Tim and the Lib Dems are calling for an urgent five point plan to support ambulance services this winter to ease the pressure on hospitals. As part of this, the party is calling for a long-term strategy to improve social care, free up hospital beds and stop ambulances waiting outside hospitals.

Tim said: "Our paramedics and ambulance crews right across our community work tirelessly to save lives every single day - but they are under enormous pressure.

"Ambulance response times are not what they need to be, and that is simply because there are not enough people working in the ambulance service.

"Our region has been hit worse than any other in England when it comes to losing ambulance staff.

"The consequences of this are that ambulance staff are run ragged and patients are put at risk - this is unacceptable.

"The Government must step in and get a grip."