Helen Morgan asked a question of Liz Truss at her first Prime Minister’s Questions.

Helen referred to the waiting times for ambulances and said:

Will the Prime Minister get a grip on this grave situation and commission the CQC to investigate the causes of and the solutions to the ambulance service’s delays?

In response the PM agreed that people should not have to wait as long as they are for ambulances, and stated that it was one of the priorities laid out by the new Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey. I suppose that was the least she could have said, but there was no commitment to taking an obvious route and getting the Care Quality Commission to carry out an investigation.

“Across Britain, waiting hours and hours for an ambulance has become normal.
“Will the Prime Minister get a grip on this grave situation?”@HelenMorganMP pic.twitter.com/nHCV2UD8Q8

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) September 7, 2022

Yesterday Liz Truss outlined her own three main priorities – sorting out the economy, dealing with the energy crisis and making sure everyone can get an appointment with a GP and get the services they need. Given the many problems in the NHS at the moment that third commitment seemed curiously lacking in ambition. Whilst she elaborated on the other two priorities, on the NHS all she said was “We will put our health service on a firm footing.”

No mention of the dangerous delays for ambulances to arrive followed by long, long waits outside hospitals or inside in A&E. No mention of the critical shortage of medical staff. No mention of the backlog in discharges from hospitals because of lack of capacity in care homes. No mention of the huge waiting lists for surgery and other treatments.

I, for one, have little faith that the new Government can sort out this mess that Helen Morgan highlighted. I hope I am wrong.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.