Action needed to solve social care 'crisis' including hospital overcrowding and 'dreadful' ambulance wait times, says MP
"Long-overdue" Government talks should be the catalyst for action to improve a social care "crisis", a Shropshire MP has said.
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan attended a meeting of cross-party MPs and spokespeople on adult social care in Westminster on Tuesday (September 9).
Speaking after the meeting Mrs Morgan, who is also the Liberal Democrat party's spokesperson for health and care, said it was good to "finally" see some progress.
Mrs Morgan and her party have called for the Government to urgently tackle a "social care crisis" and work with other parties to relieve hospital overcrowding, ambulance waiting times and community care.
The North Shropshire MP said the cross-party talks were due to begin back in February, but had failed to get off the ground until this week.
She said: "It was a productive meeting, albeit long-overdue. I’m thankful we’ve finally been able to get round the table, because the longer social care services in this country remain in crisis, the longer we have dangerously high occupancy rates in hospitals, leading to the horrors of corridor care, dreadful ambulance waiting times, and family carers struggling to cope without help.
"Many families can't afford to wait any longer for the crisis in social care to be fixed, so today’s meeting needs to be a catalyst to speed up the review. I’m looking forward to working with Baroness Casey and the Commission in shaping a solution for social care which is fit for the future."
Alongside Mrs Morgan, the round table meeting was attended by Health Secretary, Wes Streeting MP.
Other MPs with responsibilities for health and care from the Conservatives and Green Party, and a policy lead representing Reform UK, also attended.
The meeting was chaired by Baroness Louise Casey, who is leading an independent commission on adult social care.
