The West Midlands Express and Star and Shropshire Star

Our NHS Crisis

2023

In January, the West Midlands Express and Star and the Shropshire Star launched an investigation into how the NHS crisis was affecting local communities.

Reporters across both titles worked together to produce dedicated editorials, interviewing paramedics, an ambulance call handler, and doctors in the region, with one telling the papers that working in her hospital had become “like a war zone.”

The Express and Star reported: “Today we highlight the crisis through the eyes of those that are living it every day – from GPs to 999 call handlers, paramedics, nurses and consultants right the way through to those working in social care.”

Editor-in-chief of MNA titles Martin Wright, said:

 “We had first-hand accounts from those on the front line in the NHS – and it made for shocking reading. Our eight pages of in-depth analysis looked at the pinch points faced by patients, and we also considered the possible solutions to the UK’s health crisis.

“Our coverage was intended to make an impact and to focus minds on a hugely important issue, one that we continue to report on regularly as we approach another difficult winter ahead. It was an incredible eye-opener for anyone wondering what our nurses, doctors and ambulance teams are having to deal with every day.”

The coverage was raised in Parliament, with Lucy Allan, Telford MP, highlighting the impact of their investigation during a cross-party Select Committee meeting for Health and Social Care.