People will be waiting for many hours at accident and emergency units because of the care crisis, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner told the Commons today. He told the Chamber that anyone arriving at Addenbrooke’s Hospital now risks not being seen until after 5 o’clock -; through no fault of the hospital, but because of the numbers of people who can not be discharged because of failings in the local care system.

Mr Zeichner was speaking in response to the statement by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid who had been expected to announce a major boost to council funding to tackle the care crisis.  He warned that relying on County Councils like Cambridgeshire to levy extra Council Tax meant that there was no guarantee of extra funding, and accused the Government of passing the buck.

Daniel Zeichner MP said: “There is a crisis in social care here and now. People are waiting hours and hours at hospitals as hard-pressed staff struggle to deal with the consequences of the care crisis. By passing the buck to county councils like Cambridgeshire, the Government has almost guaranteed that this time next year even more people will be waiting longer at Addenbrooke’s for attention.”