Tim Farron writes to Health Secretary after man with suspected broken leg turned away from A&E

Local MP Tim Farron has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, after a man with a suspected broken leg was turned away from Lancaster A&E last night.

The man, from Kendal, had a fall and had to be driven by a friend to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary after he was told there were no available ambulances.

They were informed that there would be an eight hour wait to be seen, and were advised to go home and try again the next day.

Writing to the Health Secretary, Tim said: “Secretary of State, this is an absolutely appalling state of affairs, and not what my constituents deserve.

“Despite the best efforts of the dedicated staff who work there, A&E at Lancaster is a terrible bottleneck; it’s always congested, in part because it is too small to be fit for purpose.

“Our local NHS had been working incredibly hard on plans for a new hospital in Lancaster. They’d designed it, identified a new site, and had just begun a consultation with residents. That was until your department announced that work on a new hospital won’t be allowed to start until 2035 at the earliest. 

“The congestion in A&E is also partly due to 25% of the beds at Lancaster being occupied by people who cannot leave hospital because of inadequate social care.

“And yet, the absolutely critical review the Government has commissioned into social care won’t finish reporting back until 2028.

“Secretary of State, while we wait another three years for the review into social care to conclude, and while we wait another 10 years for work to start on building a new A&E in Lancaster, please will you outline what immediate work your department is doing to reduce the perilous state of our local health services?”