Having a stroke? Get someone to drive you to A&E. Only if it is safe to do so, of course. Such is the state of the NHS as ambulance workers, paramedics, technicians, call handlers and other staff in parts of the country walk out.
Even before today’s strikes, ambulance waiting times had got out of control. All trusts should respond to Category 2 calls — which include heart attack symptoms, strokes and sepsis — in 18 minutes on average. In March this year, the response time was one hour and one minute. It has fallen back since, but it remains more than double the target.
Further delays are caused by waiting times at hospitals themselves, with trusts struggling to discharge medically fit patients. Consequently, beds that could be freed are instead occupied by people in need of social care but who have nowhere else to go. In July, more than one in 10 ambulances waited for more than an hour outside of hospitals — up from almost one in 50 in 2019.
A Government that has presided over such declines is in no position to play hardball with nurses and paramedics. The public understands this too. By almost two to one, they back these strikes. If people are able to judge each set of industrial action on its merits, ministers must too.
No one is realistically expecting a 19 per cent pay rise. But it is hard to understand the Government’s end game. Who do they think they are appealing to with this tone? Neither strikers workers nor voters, while even parts of the Conservative Party are becoming edgy.
Instead of acting tough, it’s time for serious negotiations about a fair settlement to begin.
Sir Mark’s challenge
Sir Mark Rowley has been in the job for 100 days. His appointment as Metropolitan Police Commissioner followed a wretched period for Scotland Yard, which was buffeted by seemingly endless scandals.
It is early days, but there have already been some positive signs. Sir Mark has committed to use counter-terror type tactics in a major new crackdown on violence against women and girls. He has made sacking rogue officers and reforming the culture a priority. And we have already seen a greater emphasis on police presence, with the force saying the number of reported burglaries attended by officers has doubled since September.
But there is still a long, long way to go. First, to rebuild trust with Londoners. And at the same time, deliver the level of policing our city deserves. The task is massive — only last night, a 16-year-old boy died in a double stabbing in north London. This epidemic of knife violence continues to ruin lives.
Sir Mark will be better judged on his first year and full term, rather than his first 100 days. But it has been an encouraging start.
Lighter days ahead
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the shortest day of the year. Things can, to coin a phrase, only get better. Or at least a little lighter for longer. Just think, in a mere few weeks’ time, you could be waiting for a cancelled train in something approaching daylight rather than the dark. Sunlit uplands, indeed.
