Jess Phillips, a member of the Labour Party who represents Birmingham Yardley, claimed that she was seen faster by a doctor at a National Health Service hospital because the medical professional was Palestinian and because Phillips had voted in favor of a Gaza ceasefire, British media reported on Thursday.
Phillips had reportedly made the comments while speaking at an event at the Kiln Theatre in North London.
The 42-year-old told the crowd that she attended an A&E (Emergency Room) in a Birmingham hospital after she found herself struggling to breathe while her lips turned blue.
Phillips described the room as overcrowded and said she had “genuinely seen better facilities, health facilities, in war zones, in developing countries around the world.”
Despite the large number of patients waiting to be seen, Phillips said she made the front of the queue “undoubtedly” for two reasons - firstly, her position in politics and second, her position on the Israel-Hamas war.
“[The doctor] was sort of like, 'I like you. You voted for a ceasefire.' [Because of that] I got through quicker,” Phillips told the attendees.
This is not the first time that such an incident has been reported. In March, a Jewish boy was reportedly ejected from his bed at a Manchester NHS hospital by pro-Palestinian nurses.
NHS waiting times
According to data provided by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, as of Friday, the waiting times at two of the three A+E centers listed are an average of over five hours. However, information from Phillip’s visit cannot be obtained.
According to The Times, in 2023, 153,000 patients waited over 24 hours to be admitted from A+E. 8,665 of those patients waited at University Hospitals Birmingham.
According to the Daily Mail, more than half (54%) of those attending A+E at the worst-performing UK hospitals were forced to wait over four hours for care in 2023. Second on the Mail’s list of poorly performing hospitals was University Hospitals Birmingham, with 181,451 patients waiting over four hours to be seen—48% of the total patients seen.
Jess Phillip's recent controversy
According to Jewish News, the MP has been vocal in her support for Gaza, resigning as shadow minister in November to call for a vote on a ceasefire.
Phillips made headlines at the beginning of August when, according to The Independent, she was accused of “making excuses for masked men shouting, abusing and intimidating members of the media” after gangs of men with balaclavas and Palestinian flags were recorded in Birmingham.
The incident escalated with masked men attacking cars, pubgoers, and a Sky News van.
Phillips had claimed that the incidents were stirred by rumors that a “far-right group were coming, and it was done entirely to get Muslim people out on the street to drive this content. It is misinformation being spread to create trouble.”
Responding to a second clip of a man in a balaclava swearing at the reporter, Phillips reportedly said, “These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them. This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content.”
Phillip’s comments landed her in hot water with Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly, who reportedly criticized her.
“Home Office ministers should not be making excuses for masked men shouting, abusing, and intimidating members of the media,” Cleverly was reported as having said. “Ministers are not commentators or casual observers, they are decision makers and need to think about the consequences of words and actions.”