Glastonbury's ambulance crews are working under "immense pressure" and facing serious delays that are putting patients at risk, according to a Somerset MP who joined a team on the frontline.

Sarah Dyke, Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, spent Monday, September 29 shadowing a South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) crew in the town to see the challenges first-hand.

Ms Dyke accompanied Emergency Ambulance Associate Lyndsey Locke and Paramedic Liz McCabe during their shift and said the experience exposed the full scale of the strain on the system — particularly the impact of hospital handover delays on local response times.

She said: "It was a real privilege to join Lyndsey and Liz for the day and see first-hand the professionalism, compassion and dedication that our ambulance crews demonstrate under immense pressure.

"The stories I heard highlighted just how stretched the service has become, particularly in rural areas like Glastonbury where wait times are typically higher than the rest of the country."

The service, which covers over 10,000 square miles and serves more than 5.7 million people, continues to struggle with delays in transferring patients to hospital — one of the key factors behind ambulance shortages and rising 999 wait times in Somerset.

Ms Dyke added: "We owe it to our ambulance staff and patients to put this right as a matter of urgency before the winter crisis hits."

She said delays in other areas of the NHS, such as GP appointment backlogs, are forcing more people to rely on emergency services. She pledged to continue campaigning in Parliament for better funding and resources to support local ambulance teams.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for increased staffed hospital beds, reforms to social care, and a £1.5 billion ring-fenced winter resilience fund to support ambulance services and hospitals across the UK.

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