appointments, drugs, forambulances, appointments, drugs, for ambulances, to enter— appointments, drugs, forambulances, to enter hospitals once they are in the ambulances and all of the stories— the ambulances and all of the stories are connected and all of the time that— stories are connected and all of the time that we have no working prime minister. _ time that we have no working prime minister, and all of the time that the tory— minister, and all of the time that the tory party is busily infighting over who — the tory party is busily infighting over who should be the next prime minister. _ over who should be the next prime minister, people are becoming more and more _ minister, people are becoming more and more disengaged and i completely, i think geri is absolutely right, i think the media is misjudging the public mood and i think politicians are misjudging the public— think politicians are misjudging the public mood. we are all feeling the pinch _ public mood. we are all feeling the pinch and _ public mood. we are all feeling the pinch and quite frankly if there are organisations that can create enough tension _ organisations that can create enough tension and ferment to draw attention to that, then they should. the nhs _ attention to that, then they should. the nhs in — attention to that, then they should. the nhs in all of this, for year after— the nhs in all of this, for year after year— the nhs in all of this, for year after year after year has been beleaguered. we are all suffering as a result— beleaguered. we are all suffering as a result and the fact that it takes 6.5 minutes might not seem terrible
the only cause. this isn'tjust about covid. even before the pandemic we went into the situation with over 100,000 vacancies in the nhs and the situation is only getting worse, which means there are not enough staff to meet demand which means patients are waiting longer for urgent and emergency services, forambulances, and in a&e. nhs england says the past few months have been the busiest ever, but despite that, waits of over a year have reduced slightly, but others are warning the brutal reality is the pressures this easter could be as bad as any winter. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. let's speak now to louise ansari, national director of healthwatch england, an independent organisation that aims to improve standards in health care. thank you very much for being with us. what is your reaction to these figures? i suppose we have stopped perhaps being surprised by figures