In a series of tweets, Deborah Lee, chief executive of the Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust, said she had recovered, but warned the government that urgent action was needed. Mrs. Lee had a “turn” – slanted and unable to speak. Explaining further, he wrote: “Having heard me complain about ambulance delays, my husband picked me up in his car and drove me to A&E.” Once I got there, the treatment was quick: “I was taken to a resus and 35 minutes later I was on a CT scan, 30 minutes later a TPA (tissue plasminogen activator) bolt was on board.” TPA is a protein involved in the breakdown of blood clots. Expressing her concern, Ms. Lee said: “I can not get one thing out of my head: what if my husband was not there and my daughter called an ambulance and I was put in second class?” In the South West, where Ms Lee works, the average response time for a Class 2 call, which includes strokes, is one hour and 53 minutes – the longest in England when the target is 18 minutes. Evidence shows that ambulance response times across the country have risen to their worst levels since records began in 2017. The average response time last month for the most urgent ambulances in England was nine minutes and 35 seconds – up from eight minutes and 51 seconds in February. Ms Lee, who has worked for the NHS for 30 years, said “her system works non-stop” to reduce response times, but added that this was “without much effect”. “There is no silver ball and I do not have the answer,” he said. “But the government has the power to create one.” He called on politicians to review social welfare by improving training and staff pay, adding that they need to “build an area where people want to join, stay and feel proud to belong”.
