WIRRAL West MP Margaret Greenwood has called for the government to prioritise the NHS in a bid to prevent a repeat of the crisis faced by Arrowe Park Hospital staff last winter.

From December to March, doctors treated almost 26,000 patients in accident and Emergency department.

Average bed occupany was more than 98%. Nearly seven per cent of those beds were escalation beds, set up in temporary wards, to cope with the extra pressures over winter.

Miss Greenwood said: "It is vital that our National Health Service gives world-class care and remains free at the point of use.

"I am calling on Theresa May to give the NHS the support and resources it urgently needs.

"Theresa May oversaw the worst winter crisis on record, the result of seven years of Tory under-investment.

"NHS staff at both Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals are being put under unacceptable additional pressure as a result".

Referring to the experience of Arrowe Park Hospital staff, she continued: "There were 13 days when it experienced major pressures which compromised the flow of patients from admission through to discharge.

"I and my Labour colleagues have warned repeatedly that the NHS funding squeeze imposed by the Government is damaging standards of patient care.

"We would fund the NHS at record levels and guarantee that the main 4 hour A&E target would be met again consistently.

"In a period of instability as Brexit negotiations begin, it is shameful that Theresa May has failed to guarantee the rights of EU nationals working in our health service.

"Staff at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals from other EU countries deserve our utmost respect for their hard work in caring for us.

"We need their dedication and expertise.

"Theresa May must finally give the NHS the support and resources it urgently needs and explain what she's going to do to make sure patients and their families never suffer a year like this ever again."