NHS crisis in East of England.

A&E wait times through the roof with 4,198 waiting over 12 hours in the East of England, 1,075 in Norfolk.

New figures have revealed the extent of the NHS crisis in East of England. In The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust, 1,271 people waited over 4 hours to be seen in December. Even more alarmingly, 655 waited over 12 hours to be seen in December during the winter crisis.

Meanwhile, the average ambulance response time for the most urgent incidents in East of England was 11:54 minutes in December - well in excess of the NHS target of 7 minutes.

Response times for urgent conditions such as heart attacks and strokes are even longer. Ambulance response times in East of England for these Category 2 emergencies are now 2:06:00, way above the 18-minute target.

The Liberal Democrats have set out a five-point plan to tackle the ambulance service crisis. The party is demanding the Government release the money they promised to help discharge patients from hospitals, as soon as possible.

David Sayers, Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Gaywood North and Central said:

"The Government's failure to tackle the crisis in our NHS is letting down people in Norfolk and putting patients' lives at risk. How much more evidence do Ministers need? They either don't care or just can't grasp the scale of this problem. "Unacceptable and heart-breaking delays mean the Government is falling far short even on its own targets.

"Far too many people in Norfolk are having to wait far too long to get the treatment they need. In many cases, this is literally a matter of life or death. People in Norfolk deserve far better. "Our NHS isn't just at breaking point - it's splitting at its very seams. We need action from the Conservatives. Liberal Democrats are demanding the Government release the money they promised to help discharge patients from hospitals, and launch a campaign to recruit the extra paramedics and ambulance staff we need."

The Liberal Democrat Group at Norfolk County are putting a motion to Full Council on 24th January. The motion calls on the Council Leader to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to commission the CQC to conduct an urgent investigation into the causes and impacts of ambulance service delays and calling for the Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to look into the ambulance delays in Norfolk.