MP wants action over rising hospital waiting times

Liberal Democrat Zoe Franklin said the research produced by her office showed large rises over a decade in A&E attendances

The MP for Guildford has highlighted figures she claimed show "a summer crisis" at the Surrey town's hospital.

Liberal Democrat Zoe Franklin said the research produced by her office showed large rises over a decade in A&E attendances and the number of patients waiting more than four hours to be seen.

Ms Franklin has called for the Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership to take action ahead of the winter.

The partnership said the method under which the data was collected had changed over 10 years, and the local increase reflected national trends.

The statistics gathered by Ms Franklin show that in June and July 2015 the hospital's A&E department saw 11,279 people.

For June and July of 2025 that figure was 15,150, she said.

The partnership said it had seen a "sustained rise in the number of people attending A&E, many with increasingly complex needs"

She said: "The pressures of the annual 'winter crisis' are now being felt all year round.

"Staff are working in incredibly demanding roles without the resources and colleagues they need, and inevitably, patients suffer the consequences.

"We must have an urgent assessment of these figures and put in place measures to protect the NHS and its patients ahead of the winter months, when A&E services will be under even greater strain."

"Staff are working in incredibly demanding roles without the resources and colleagues they need," said Ms Franklin

A spokesman for the partnership said: "It's important to note that the comparative data here is 10 years old and in that period of time the methodology processes and pathways have changed immeasurably.

"We have seen a sustained rise in the number of people attending A&E, many with increasingly complex needs. The summer data for Surrey reflects those wider national trends.

"Ahead of winter, a number of measures are already being put in place, including expanding out-of-hours GP and urgent care access, increasing support for same day emergency care pathways, boosting pharmacy services to help reduce avoidable A&E visits and encouraging the uptake of flu, Covid and RSV vaccines to prevent serious illness."