Sajid Javid ignored a request for a meeting with his local West Midlands ambulance trust despite warnings that record delays are posing a “catastrophic risk” to patients.
The most recent board documents published by the trust suggest that the Health Secretary was invited to a meeting over four months ago but has still not replied.
West Midlands Ambulance Service moved to its highest risk rating in its history last month - warning that patients were dying as a result of the immense levels of demand.
It comes ahead of Thursday’s by-election in North Shropshire in which Government neglect of local health services has emerged as a major issue on the doorstep.
But what should be a comfortable win for the Tories - ex-MP Owen Paterson had a majority of almost 23,000 - is now looking precarious.
Bookmakers today made the Liberal Democrats the favourites to win the poll in what would be a serious blow to Boris Johnson's authority.
The trust's board minutes for the meeting on 27 October 2021 report: "The Chairman informed the Board that the new Secretary of State is one of the Trust’s local MPs.
"The Chairman has written to him in his capacity as a local MP and invited him to visit the Trust. A response to the invitation was awaited."
Mr Javid’s apparent failure to reply comes despite the local trust warning that record handover delays at the region’s hospitals are putting patients at risk of severe harm or even death.
The trust recently apologised to one 95-year old woman who was left waiting for 11 hours on the floor of her home with a suspected broken leg for an ambulance to turn up.
The Lib Dems demanded that Mr Javid, the MP for Bromsgrove, meet immediately with local NHS officials and apologise to patients who had suffered as a result of the delays.
Earlier this month, Shropshire ran out of ambulances because they were all queueing outside hospitals. Four local community ambulance stations were closed in October.
The board papers also show that the trust's chief executive had previously briefed Mr Javid on the state of ambulance services across England.
Lib Dem Health spokesman Daisy Cooper said: “ Sajid Javid is ignoring the NHS crisis in his own backyard.
"People are waiting for hours in pain for an ambulance to turn up, and the Health Secretary can’t even be bothered to attend a meeting to find out why.
“It shows how the Conservatives are neglecting local NHS services in North Shropshire and completely taking the people across the area for granted."
The WMAS has been approached for comment.
