Ambulances delays lead Wilmslow GPs to drive patient to A&E

Two GPs who drove a patient to hospital after waiting three hours for an ambulance have said the NHS is "broken".

Doctors from Wilmslow Health Centre took the man, who they said was rapidly deteriorating, to Macclesfield Hospital on Monday night.

Dr Fari Ahmad said the ambulance service was not to blame for the "outrageous" situation.

NHS England said demand for services had been "consistently high" this week.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said staff were trying their best to help people "as quickly as possible" during a "significant spike" in demand.

Staff at the health centre posted a video online showing the moment doctors decided to drive the patient to A&E themselves after waiting more than three hours for an ambulance.

Dr Ahmad said he had collapsed at the surgery and was "getting worse", adding she was "very worried about him".

"It is not their [ambulance crews] fault, they're rammed, every single part of the NHS is stretched yet again.

"It's winter and really poorly people are struggling to access the help they need."

She looked after the man in the back seat of the car, while her husband and colleague Dr Amar Ahmed drove.

"It's not the ideal thing to do, but we were in such a desperation situation", she said, adding the GPs had ferried other patients to hospital in the past due to similar delays.

In the video Dr Ahmed said the doctors filmed their act of desperation to highlight how the NHS system was "totally broken".

He said: "Politicians on both sides need to wake and do something about it, because people are dying.

"Wake up, stop obfuscating, and do something about it now."

A representative for NWAS said: "We are sorry that we haven't been able to get to the gentleman as quickly as we would have liked.

"The NHS is experiencing a significant spike in demand, leading to delays for some patients, but our staff are trying their best to get those who need us as quickly as possible."

A spokeswoman for NHS England said: "Demand for NHS services, including in A&E departments and 999, have been consistently high this week and we are working closely with NHS partners across all provider services, including North West Ambulance Service and social care, to help manage these pressures and ensure patients are seen as quickly as possible."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk, external