Dr. Hilary Jones has described the current state of staff absences at NHS trusts due to a rise in Covid cases as a "bit of a crisis" and an "emergency situation".
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Dr. Jones was responding to the story that NHS trusts in the North-East had asked heart attack patients to get a lift into hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance as it would take too long.
The ITV show reported that the wait could be two hours for an ambulance in some cases.
A soaring number of Covid cases in hospital, plus staff absences due to Covid had meant that many NHS trusts were put under strain.
He said: "This is a bit of a crisis to say the least. I mean I have taken patients into hospital because we couldn't wait for an ambulance before now.
'This is an emergency situation.'@DrHilaryJones shares concerns over the reports that ambulance bosses are asking potential heart attack victims to get a taxi to A&E as the wait for an ambulance could take 2 hours amid the rising admissions and staff shortages caused by Covid. pic.twitter.com/D9ENZTBZyv
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 5, 2022
"I've also known patient's relatives take them in, in an acute situation
He added: "This is an emergency situation that we're in now if we're asking people with suspected heart attacks to be driven in using a taxi because they're going to get to hospital quicker than waiting for an ambulance.
"It's not the ambulance services' fault by any means. They've been warning about this for years."
Dr. Jones finished off his summary by describing the current situation as "third world".
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