TACKLING the number of ambulances carrying patients parked outside the city's hospital is one of the priorities for the city's new MP.

Worcester's Labour MP Tom Collins said Worcestershire Royal Hospital is 'on its knees' and said improving transport in the city and tackling flooding at New Road are also important issues.

In a speech shortly after being elected, Mr Collins said: "Right here in Worcester, we've got all sorts of things we need to do locally - we know we've got problems with our buses and transport, our hospital's on its knees, people can't see a doctor or a dentist."

Parliament has entered summer recess on Tuesday (July 30) and will return on Monday, September 2, giving Mr Collins time to reflect on his first few weeks in Westminster.

"I spent a year and a half talking to people in Worcester and understanding what's important," he said, "I want to put people at the heart of the decisions we're making."

Mr Collins explained where transport in Worcester is failing: "The big one is the need for better buses, particularly in the evenings.

"We used to have buses in Worcester that ran late into the evening, now they stop in the early to mid-evening which is a big block to Worcester's economy as well as people's jobs and lives."

He and Redditch's MP, Chris Bloore, have already begun working on tackling this issue: "We've had our first meeting with the county council about this.

"I've already joined a meeting with the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, about improving buses in the city."

Mr Collins also explained the issue of healthcare: "Lots of people will remember the challenges from before and after COVID for the NHS.

"We had ambulances piling up outside A&E departments and these stresses cut across the entire service."

"Labour's approach is just as much about the way things are done compared to how much money is spent.

"We want to get workers focused back on patient care, which is very much why they chose that career in the first place, by cutting out inefficiencies."

Away from the problems highlighted in his speech, Mr Collins has also begun work to improve Worcester's defences against flooding: "I've caught up with the flooding minister to talk about the situation at the cricket club."