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Ambulance response times are currently the worst on record and the NHS is struggling to cope with a surge in demand this winter.

Sky News joined West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic Danny Thompson and ambulance technician Dan Fiedler for a 12-hour shift.

7am: Elderly couple ‘too scared’ to call 999

Freezing fog hangs over Coventry as Danny and Dan make sure their radios are charged and vehicle fully stocked before heading out.

It is unusually quiet to begin with, but just before 8am they get their first call.

The patient is an elderly man who has fallen and injured his arm. They switch on the sirens and the blue lights flash as they speed through the fog.

Arriving at the house, they find the patient, 86-year-old Edward, in bed. Norma, his wife, is sitting next to him.

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Edward’s arm is swollen and purple. It turns out he fell two days ago.

“It said on the television only call if it’s a matter of life and death,” Norma tells Danny.

Danny and Edward in the ambulance
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Danny and Edward in the ambulance

He tells her to call straight away in future. They’re worried patients who need help have been put off calling by the advice given on strike days.

“People are a bit scared to call ambulances because they think they’re going to be stuck in corridors or in the back of an ambulance,” Dan says.

As they prepare to take Edward, who has advanced Parkinson’s, to A&E – they chat.

Dan asks Edward how long he and Norma have been married. “62 years,” he says. “How did you meet?” Dan asks. “In the pictures,” Edward replies.

“He thinks I’m superwoman,” Norma tells Danny, as she details how they manage without any carers.

But she’s relieved to see the paramedics.

“When I rang my heart sank because they stop halfway through and say use www… we’re not on world wide web,” she says. “I’m not moaning really, it’s just that we haven’t kept up to date with our technology”.

Rosemary is reluctant to return to A&E after a previous long wait
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Rosemary is reluctant to return to A&E after a previous long wait

10am: Woman refuses to ‘freeze’ in A&E despite blood clot fear

“Straight in… very unusual,” Danny remarks as they wheel Edward into the A&E department in Coventry where he’ll have an X-ray to check if his arm is broken.

Back outside in the ambulance, their radio beeps to let them know it’s been 12 minutes since they handed Edward over.

That means they’re expected to be ready for the next call.

The next stop is an elderly patient whose district nurse fears could have a blood clot in her leg.

When they get to her house, Rosemary is sitting upstairs.

Her daughter explains they went to A&E a couple of weeks ago and spent hours waiting in a freezing corridor. They don’t want to go back.

After doing some tests Danny and Dan believe it’s fluid and not a blood clot causing the swelling.

They agree to take her to a same-day emergency care unit at the hospital in Nuneaton.

But on their way a category one call comes in. They’re the closest ambulance, so they apologise to Rosemary, switch on blue lights and head in the direction of the call.

A couple of minutes later though, they’re told to stand down.

They continue on their way with Rosemary and apologise for the diversion as they leave her at the hospital.

Rosemary arrives at hospital
Image:
Rosemary arrives at hospital

1pm: Seizure and slow heartbeat dealt with in five minutes

They don’t even get the chance to finish their lunch before another category one call comes in.

The details indicate that an elderly woman is having a seizure.

Inside the house they quickly establish there’s a problem with her heart and it’s serious. She’s already lost consciousness once.

They wheel her into the ambulance and carry out ECG tests. Her heart rate is dropping, there’s a risk it could stop.

Danny calls the hospital in Coventry to tell them to have a team ready.

Machines beep and the patient tells them she’s scared.

Danny and Dan work quickly to stabilise her heart rate. Their reassuring tone as they tell her not to worry contrasts with the urgency of the situation.

They get her to A&E within five minutes. Her heart is still beating, but very slowly.

They’re both just relieved that this wasn’t one of the days they’ve been stuck queuing outside hospital.

“The cardiac condition she had can often result in death if it’s not caught in time,” Danny says.

Dan (left) and Danny
Image:
Dan (left) and Danny

4pm: Good news but it was close

After completing all their paperwork, they finally get a lunch break at about 4.30pm. They can take half an hour, unless a category one call comes in. They head back to base where Dan joins a small group of colleagues.

After 30 minutes, Danny comes to get him. There’s another call.

Sirens on, they make their way to a house nearby. They can’t be sure the patient doesn’t have a blood clot, so they take her to A&E.

While there they find out the heart patient has had emergency surgery to fit a pacemaker. She’s doing well.

It’s good news to end the day. But they know it was close.

“Things can’t go on as they are,” Danny says. “Because we’re going to see patients suffering as a result of that.”

Danny with the female cardiac patient
Image:
Danny with the female cardiac patient

7pm: 12-hour shift over

It’s rare to finish on time this winter – but on this occasion, they pull back into base exactly 12 hours after their shift began.

They restock the ambulance and wave to the teams taking over, before heading off into the night.

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No 10 backs Chancellor Rachel Reeves and says she ‘is going nowhere’ after tearful appearance in Commons

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No 10 backs Chancellor Rachel Reeves and says she 'is going nowhere' after tearful appearance in Commons

Rachel Reeves has not offered her resignation and is “going nowhere”, Downing Street has said, following her tearful appearance in the House of Commons.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the chancellor had the “full backing” of Sir Keir Starmer, despite Ms Reeves looking visibly upset during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Politics latest: ‘A moment of intense peril’ for PM

A spokesperson for the chancellor later clarified that Ms Reeves had been affected by a “personal matter” and would be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.

Politics latest: Reeves looks visibly upset in Commons

UK government bond prices fell by the most since October 2022, and the pound tumbled after Ms Reeves’s Commons appearance, while the yield on the 10-year government bond, or gilt, rose as much as 22 basis points at one point to around 4.68%.

Downing Street’s insistence came despite Sir Keir refusing to guarantee that Ms Reeves would stay as chancellor until the next election following the fallout from the government’s recent welfare U-turn.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill.

Emotional Reeves a painful watch – and reminder of tough decisions ahead

It is hard to think of a PMQs like it – it was a painful watch.

The prime minister battled on, his tone assured, even if his actual words were not always convincing.

But it was the chancellor next to him that attracted the most attention.

Rachel Reeves looked visibly upset.

It is hard to know for sure right now what was going on behind the scenes, the reasons – predictable or otherwise – why she appeared to be emotional, but it was noticeable and it was difficult to watch.

To read more of Ali Fortescue’s analysis, click here

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Badenoch said: “This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones.”

Turning to the chancellor, the Tory leader added: “[She] is pointing at me – she looks absolutely miserable.

“Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?”

Not fully answering the question, the prime minister replied: “[Ms Badenoch] certainly won’t.

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Welfare vote ‘a blow to the prime minister’

“I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.”

Mrs Badenoch interjected: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, aimed at saving £5bn, was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening.

A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill – the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s Lone Parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.

After multiple concessions made due to threats of a Labour rebellion, many MPs questioned what they were voting for as the bill had been severely stripped down.

They ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to Universal Credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Ms Badenoch said the climbdown was proof that Sir Keir was “too weak to get anything done”.

Read more:
The PM faced down his party on welfare and lost
Labour welfare cuts ‘Dickensian’, says rebel MP

Ms Reeves has also borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.

Experts have now warned that the welfare U-turn, on top of reversing the cut to winter fuel, means that tax rises in the autumn are more likely – with Ms Reeves now needing to find £5bn to make up for the policy U-turns.

Asked by Ms Badenoch whether he could rule out further tax rises – something Labour promised it would not do on working people in its manifesto – Sir Keir said: “She knows that no prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future.

“But she talks about growth, for 14 years we had stagnation, and that is what caused the problem.”

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Prosecutors consider more charges against Lucy Letby

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Prosecutors consider more charges against Lucy Letby

Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.

“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.

“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”

Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.

lucy letby
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Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital

She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.

Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.

A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”

Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.

Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”

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Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.

Read more from Sky News:
‘Catastrophic failure’ that led to Heathrow power outage revealed
Man charged with murder of 93-year-old woman in Cornwall

Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.

There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.

A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.

In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.

Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.

In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.

Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

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More criminal charges being considered over baby deaths at Lucy Letby hospitals

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More criminal charges being considered over baby deaths at Lucy Letby hospitals

The Crown Prosecution Service has said it is considering whether to bring further criminal charges over the deaths of babies at hospitals where Lucy Letby worked.

The CPS said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.

“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.

“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”

Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.

She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.

There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.

A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.

In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.

Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.

In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.

Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

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