Susanna Reid reacted in shock and concern to messages that came in from Good Morning Britain viewers over how long they'd had to wait for an ambulance or to receive medical attention for an urgent problem, including one woman who watched her husband died in front of her.
Joined in the studio of the ITV breakfast programme by co-host Ed Balls and TV medic Doctor Hilary Jones, Susanna was talking about the problems surrounding emergency services and the NHS as new prime minister Liz Truss declared that she was making the NHS an 'early priority' of her tenure.
She told her colleagues that GMB had been 'inundated' by case studies from people affected by the ongoing issue, before reading one out, saying: "Kieran: I recently waited 11 hours for an ambulance and then waited 10 hours inside the ambulance outside the hospital," as Dr Hilary, sitting next to her, shook his head.
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Susanna continued: "And then three hours to see a doctor. Twenty four hours from calling an ambulance to seeing a doctor. Doctor Hilary, this is Britain. this is the inventor of the NHS."
Dr Hilary replied: "This is something the British Medical Association have been warning the Government about for years and no-one has listened; they've taken front line staff for granted. It is appalling for patients who've relied on an efficient health service until now."
Interrupting him, Susanna read out another concerning message from a viewer, saying: "So Lesley says 'I' live in South Wales, I'm listening to your report on the delay in ambulances. I've experienced this first hand. Last year my husband, who experienced various health issues, woke up in the early hours; I rang an ambulance, they said it would take an hour. They didn't come, my husband went into cardiac arrest and died in front of me. Their reason was a lack of resources, which doesn't help at all. My husband was 62, as a family we are heartbroken."
The presenter added: "This is what I mean when I say I'm afraid to call an ambulance. We used to be able to rely on...you'd call 999 and someone would come. Now you can't be confident that is going to happen."
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