GP protests outside office of Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clark-Smith
GP Simon Taylor filmed his protest outside the office of the MP Brendan Clarke-Smith
A video of a former army medic protesting outside the office of a Conservative MP has gone viral after he claimed it was easier to get patients to hospital in warzones than in the UK.
Simon Taylor, a GP in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, recorded himself raising concerns about the state of the NHS outside the office of Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith.
Dr Taylor, who says he was born in Worksop in Mr Clarke-Smith's constituency and is a Labour party member and activist, said in the video: "I'm protesting outside Brendan Clarke-Smith's office because we're in a situation now where I can't guarantee if I've got a sick patient I can get them into hospital quickly enough.
"I was an army doctor for about 19 years all in. I was deployed to places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and I could get seriously ill patients faster into hospital there, within the hour than I can here."
The video has been viewed more than 150,000 times on social media.
The protest comes as services struggle to cope amid high numbers of hospital admissions and problems discharging patients into community care.
On Saturday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with NHS leaders to discuss ways to deal with the pressures on the NHS.
In response to Dr Taylor's comments, Mr Sunak told ITV News: "I absolutely understand the pressure the NHS is under and that's why I spent all of Saturday talking to NHS leaders about the things we can do to make a difference."
Mr Clarke-Smith has yet to comment on Dr Taylor's video.
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