NHS trusts in Merseyside are failing to meet key targets for ambulance and A&E waiting times.
Stroke victims wait more than an hour for ambulances that are stuck queuing outside emergency departments. People are lying in pain on hospital floors. Patients are being treated in corridors. The situation is so bad, an A&E doctor in Liverpool told the ECHO: "Accident and Emergency doesn't exist now, this isn't healthcare - it's a war zone and it's a lottery whether you will survive."
James Sumner, chief executive of Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Liverpool, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals, admitted staff are "struggling day-to-day". In an update to board members, he wrote the Trust is "currently facing significant pressures in urgent and emergency care, across sites".
