Ambulances in Shropshire 'getting stuck at hospitals' as handover delays soar

Anthony Marsh, chief executive officer at the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), said the numbers were "very very serious" ahead of an debate in Parliament.

Mr Marsh, speaking at a board meeting, said delays hit over 13 hours at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and 11 hours at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

It comes as leaders dismissed the idea of a smaller ambulance service covering Shropshire alone saying it would not be able to cope with the current situation.

Mark Docherty, executive director of nursing and clinical commissioning, told board members an adjournment debate would be held in Parliament by Helen Morgan, Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire, on Thursday.

Mr Docherty said: "We've had instances this week and other weeks where literally every single ambulance in Shropshire has been stuck at a hospital in Shropshire. Having a bigger service, we've been able to move ambulances across the region to ensure we can still respond to the people in Shropshire – when every single ambulance originating in Shropshire is stuck."

The health chief said a smaller service focused on Shropshire would not be able to respond to major events as they had, such as the flooding earlier this year and the gas explosion in Shrewsbury in 2010.

He added figures, up to March 29, showed the time lost due to handover delays was nearly 2,600 hours in Shropshire, including Telford and the Wrekin, in March alone – as he questioned why it was like that, with every month seeming to see the figure becoming "higher than the previous month".

Ambulance trust chairman Professor Ian Cumming added: "We're striving to do everything we can do. If Shropshire had a stand alone service what would they do if every ambulance was stuck outside hospital? That's the benefits of having a much larger service."

Helen Morgan, North Shropshire MP, has secured a debate on Thursday over the issue – titled "Ambulance response times in Shropshire" – using information from the service, in a bid to raise awareness and sort the situation.

Concerns have mounted in the county over response times with Shropshire Council arguing for the creation of a county-only ambulance service, whilst Ludlow father Darren Childs has also seen thousands of people back his petition for more ambulance stations in the county, which was launched after his daughter waited 36 minutes for an ambulance when she had a seizure in January.

WMAS lost 12,091 hours due to handover delays exceeding 30 minutes in February and hat included more than 330 hours at Sandwell Hospital, 598 at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, 48 at Walsall Manor Hospital and 582 at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.