20 minutes that shamed all politicians

A message to every politician across the UK, irrespective of party... watch the last 20 minutes of the most recent episode of the BBC's Ambulance documentary season and then take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. If you're not angry and, frankly, ashamed by that 20 minutes of TV then please, please, go and do another job. The lady in the picture is Stephanie, a 72-year-old cancer patient. She was terrified of a repeat performance of her last visit to hospital when she had to wait in a corridor for more than six hours. The paramedics with her this time kept her in the ambulance outside the hospital while they fought tooth and nail to find her a room or cubicle to receive treatment. Putting her in a corridor again, with her immune system compromised, would have put her in huge danger. That 20 minutes of TV tells you everything you need to know about the NHS. Dedicated, caring staff held back by a lack of resources. That is the fault of politicians, of successive governments playing politics with our health service while failing to address the obvious - an ageing population is putting huge strain on the NHS and the service needs more money. It's as simple as that. Stephanie died a few weeks after the documentary was filmed. She should not have had to suffer the indignities she did. There are many thousands like her, suffering as she did, every day. Enough is enough. I don't care where the extra resources are found for the NHS. Put up my taxes. Stop wasting billions on Brexit and nuclear submarines. Stop arguing incessantly about things only politicians care about. Stop trying to score points on telly and in the papers. Watching Ambulance brought me to tears. Partly of sadness for Stephanie and her husband but largely tears of rage. It made me so angry. So if you're a politician - local, regional, national, left, right, centre - watch it. Feel angry. Feel ashamed. And do something about it. Please.