Bereaved mum calls for upgraded A&E services

Naomi Rees-Issitt has been campaigning for better access to defibrillators

A bereaved mother has challenged general election candidates in Rugby to push for upgraded A&E services in the town.

Naomi Rees-Issitt lost her son Jamie in 2022 after he died from a cardiac arrest.

Jamie Rees was left waiting more than 17 minutes for an ambulance on New Year's Day.

The Hospital of St Cross only has an urgent care centre and no ambulances are stationed in the town.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust is exploring options to offer doctor-led provision there.

Ms Rees-Issitt has been calling for the return of a full A&E department to the hospital and said she had been supported by Rugby’s former MP Mark Pawsey.

But while she appreciated those efforts, she told BBC CWR she wanted Rugby’s next MP to “stop talking and start doing”.

In interviews with the BBC, five candidates standing to be Rugby’s next MP pledged to push for improved health services at St Cross.

Candidate pledges

The Green candidate Becca Stevenson said she would be “pushing hard to make sure there’s investment in St Cross and to improve the A&E facilities”.

But she said the return of a full A&E department at St Cross was “not going to happen overnight”.

Ms Stevenson said the Greens would put more money into the NHS by making sure “people with the most wealth are paying more tax”.

The Reform UK candidate Devenne Kedward said her top priority would be to “put pressure on these who make the decisions”.

She said there was “huge waste” in the NHS and money could be saved to pay for better services in Rugby.

“If they slimmed down their inflated management structure, we could have doctor-led urgent care,” she said.

Naomi Rees-Issitt and her son Jamie, right, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest

The Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Dickson said his party could influence the next government over the direction of the NHS.

He said the NHS needed a plan to improve health services in Rugby, as if he was elected, he would hold care providers to account.

To get better care for patients, he said, “you have to talk to each other”.

Labour’s candidate John Slinger said it was “a priority of mine to fight for more resources at our brilliant hospital in St Cross”.

When asked what his plan was, he said: “The plan is to get a doctor-led urgent care service.”

He said he knew the local NHS trust was undertaking a review of urgent care at St Cross.

The Conservative candidate Yousef Dahmash said he had been making this call “years ago and the other parties are only just joining that political bandwagon”.

He said he had been putting pressure on the local NHS trust to bring a doctor-led service back to St Cross.

Mr Dahmesh said that would be a “first step”, but added there needed to be “structural change in the NHS” rather than just money more to improve patient care.

West Midlands Ambulance service (WMAS) did not comment.

But the service has previously said it had sent the nearest available ambulance to Jamie Rees and had been working with NHS partners to reduce hospital handover delays.

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust said: “We are committed to listening to all feedback from patients and the public to continuously learn and further improve the care we provide.

“Representatives from the Trust have met with Naomi previously and are happy to have further discussions with her around the provision of services at the Hospital of St Cross.

“Our thoughts remain with Jamie’s family and we welcome their campaign to install more defibrillators in and around Rugby.”

A full list of candidates in Rugby will appear on the BBC News website after nominations have closed.

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