‘The damage they are doing to families is terrible’: Angry mother of a sick 3-year-old girl confronts Health Secretary Steve Barclay, saying she is ‘scared’ her daughter will die young because of the government’s strategy government NHS
The Health Secretary met Sarah Pinnington-Auld at King’s College Hospital
His daughter Lucy has the genetic condition cystic fibrosis.
READ MORE: Nursing union would commit to demand for 19% pay increase
Do you know Sarah Pinnington-Auld? Email joe.davies@mailonline.co.uk
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Steve Barclay was confronted today by an angry mother who said she is “scared” that No10’s handling of the NHS could see her daughter die young.
The Health Secretary met Sarah Pinnington-Auld at King’s College Hospital in London today, one day before nurses are due to go on strike again across the country.
Ms Pinnington-Auld took the opportunity to tell him that she is concerned about the treatment of her three-year-old daughter Lucy, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.
She told him that “the damage you are doing to families like mine is terrible.”
Steve Barclay met Sarah Pinnington-Auld (pictured) at King’s College Hospital in London today, one day before nurses are to go on strike again across the country.
Ms Pinnington-Auld took the opportunity to tell him that she is concerned about the treatment of her three-year-old daughter Lucy, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.
It was the second time Mr Barclay had been publicly accosted during a hospital visit, after an irate woman accused him of “goofing around” in August.
Ms Pinnington-Auld said: ‘Your care here has been absolutely incredible. The doctors, the nurses, everyone in the room, they are brilliant.
Considering what they’re into, considering the scarcity, considering the lack of resources.
“I think for me, that’s what really bothers me, actually, because we have a daughter with a condition that limits and shortens life. We have some brilliant experts, and they’re working to the bone and actually the level of care they provide is incredible.
“But they can’t provide it the way they want to, because the resources aren’t available.”
She added: ‘As I said on Monday, we were meant to be inside and the number of people coming through the door is just too much and it’s not fair to blame the pandemic anymore, is it?
‘Because actually, we had problems in the NHS before we got into the pandemic. We lacked doctors, we lacked beds before the pandemic.
“And indeed, the damage that is being done to families like me is terrible because it was agony for us as a family to wait for that call and prepare our children to cancel their visits to their sister’s hospital.
‘I know you’re looking at all the numbers, but really, people waiting for attention.
‘We have people who cannot enter medical and social care and are occupying beds. So until you, as a government, prioritize medical and social care, we are not going to release the already limited number of beds.”
Barclay visited the hospital amid mounting pressure to meet with nurses and resolve a pay dispute as strikes continue to threaten the health service.
Thousands of doctors will walk out of hospitals for the second time tomorrow in the biggest industrial action ever to shake up the NHS, sparked by the ongoing dispute over pay.
Paramedics, ambulance drivers and 999 call attendants will stage their own pickets on Wednesday, creating the biggest emergency services strike since the 1980s.
Ms Pinnington-Auld told Mr Barclay that “the damage you are doing to families like mine is terrible.”
Union bosses said today that No10 has been ‘completely intransigent’ on the wages discussion and that a ‘firm compromise’ on wages is needed to avoid strikes.
Older patients who are medically fit for discharge could be stuck in hospitals over Christmas due to strikes, senior NHS staff fear.
But the worst could come from ambulance strikes, in which elderly people who fall at home and women in late pregnancy could be denied emergency transport to hospitals.
Downing Street has refused to offer NHS workers a single lump-sum payment to avoid strikes, one of the measures reportedly introduced by Health Secretary Steve Barclay last week.
The nurses suggested they would be open to discussing the offer, but further talks would be needed by this Thursday or further action is scheduled for January.
Strikes in the New Year could prove even more damaging to patients and last longer.