My father-in-law spent 7hrs on a trolley in a strike-hit hospital – it will stay with me forever, reveals Jeremy Kyle
TALKTV presenter Jeremy Kyle revealed his father-in-law spent seven hours on a trolley in A&E in a strike-hit hospital last night.
Jeremy was candid on “Jeremy Kyle Live”, and admitted the experience of the NHS on it’s knees will “stay with him forever”.
His father-in-law went to A&E on the second day of the junior doctors’ strike.
Jeremy said: “Every night I sit behind this desk and talk about the stories that matter most to all of you, in fact, the stories that actually matter to us all.
“Today unexpectedly I found myself in the front line of one such story that won’t go away. A crumbling NHS laid low by strikes. Last night my father-in-law was rushed to hospital at midnight.
“By the time we found out and got to him this morning, he’d been lying on his own, desperate and in pain on a trolley in a shockingly crowded corridor for over seven hours.”
Jeremy said there were no junior doctors because they were “all outside picketing”.
He continued: “The nurses and consultants who stepped up were nothing short of heroic, that’s a fact. But I’m sorry to say this, the system they’re part of, you know, the beloved NHS, really did look broken.
“I couldn’t be prouder or more grateful for the staff that we met, but without them, what was a scary day for my wife’s family might ultimately have ended up much much more difficult to deal with.”
Jeremy did question how the NHS could continue without more funding.
He referenced doctors striking outside, “overwhelmed nurses barely hanging on”, while dealing with “vile abuse and disgusting people”.
Impassioned Jeremy said: “If our hospitals are going to survive, if they’re ever going to get off life support, how are we going to do it? Because I’m not sure the country can afford the fixes the NHS needs.
“I’m also not sure that as a country, we can afford to ignore them either. So the question is, where do we go from here?”
March 13 was a major strike day for NHS workers, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praising ambulance workers who came to the table for negotiations with Ministers to strike a deal.
NHS bosses warned hospitals are in for a “hard three days” with the 72-hour strike.
Patients across England face cancellations and delays as the British Medical Association doctors, who make up 40 per cent of clinic staff, refuse to work.
Medics are focusing efforts on keeping A&E departments and emergency services running.
Ambulance crews have urged patients to “use services wisely” to cut delays.
Those on picket lines said they are struggling to pay rent and bills because of pay equal to around £14 per hour.