Sajid Javid faces calls to guarantee emergency care over Christmas

Sajid Javid has been asked to guarantee emergency care over the Christmas period, amid concerns over staff shortages.

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper has written to the health secretary asking him to guarantee no-one will be turned away from an A&E due to capacity issues, and life threatening issues will be responded to within 7 minutes (the target waiting time).

Cooper said:

“The public deserves to know that ambulances will arrive on time, that anyone who needs urgent care won’t be turned away from A&E and that people who need urgent medical advice can access it.

“This Christmas, families everywhere in England need reassurance that if they do get seriously sick or injured, the NHS will be able to care for them.”

The London Ambulance Service reported last week that 353 of its staff were off with Covid-19. The resulting staff shortages took 97 of its emergency vehicles off the road.