After years of Conservative mismanagement, our NHS has been left on its knees. Nowhere is that clearer than in our overwhelmed emergency departments - from deaths in A&E waiting rooms to hours long waits for ambulances.

Now, shocking practices like corridor care, where patients are left waiting on trolleys without dignity, safety, or proper attention, have become dangerously normalised.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for our emergency care services to be rescued from collapse, with an end to corridor care and new support for ambulance services, through a new package of measures.

This includes a Winter Resilience Fund; new protections for our ambulance services and extra Community First Responders; and guaranteed standards of safety in A&E units. It also re-affirms Lib Dem calls to end the crisis in social care - which accounts for 1 in 7 NHS hospital beds.

Liberal Democrats have called to end corridor care by the end of this Parliament by:

• Ensuring this winter is the last winter crisis for the NHS through a new Winter Taskforce, which would build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.
• Ending the social care crisis a millstone round the neck of our NHS. We’d re-establish cross-party talks on social care and finish the Casey Review within a year so that reforms can be implemented urgently. Better support for the millions of unpaid and family carers should be an integral part of this - including guaranteed respite care, an end to the carers allowance cliff edge, and paid carers leave.
• Tackle staff shortages in emergency care by creating a dedicated accident and emergency care workforce plan, and introducing a strategy that ensures all emergency departments meet or exceed ‘good’ safety standards as assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
• Ensure patients receive the right care, when they need it by guaranteeing that every A&E waiting room has a qualified clinician to monitor patients and every 111 call centre has a clinical manager on shift to rapidly assist with complex cases. The motion would also roll out mental health crisis centres nationally with urgency to prevent a postcode lottery of proper mental health crisis response.

We have also called for support our ambulance service and an end the postcode lottery on emergency care.

Liberal Democrats would protect ambulance hubs - designating every NHS ambulance hub as critical infrastructure, preventing closure or downgrading without a public consultation and ministerial sign off.

We have also called for a new national drive for rural Community First Responders and to protect air ambulances, integrating them into the emergency care system and ensuring they receive NHS funding in addition to charitable donations.

Trumps threats to our NHS

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about threats posed to the NHS by Trump-backed medicine price increases. 

As a Liberal Democrat, I am whole-heartedly committed to ensuring free universal healthcare. The NHS is a liberal invention, and for decades, was the envy of the world. It is an institution which must prioritise the health of UK citizens, over the generation of profit for US pharmaceutical companies.

Following years of neglect by previous Conservative Governments, our health and social care services are now in a state of crisis.

I’m proud of Liberal Democrat led campaigns in Parliament on recruiting more GPs, repairing social care, fixing our crumbling hospitals, helping more people survive cancer and much else.

I recognise the importance of safeguarding our NHS against price hikes from US pharmaceutical companies. My party leader Ed Davey has urged the current Government to protect our NHS through increased funding and protection from US style privatisation. 

I assure you the Liberal Democrats will continue to fight to preserve and restore the integrity of our NHS.