Helen Morgan demands end to corridor care in conference key-note speech

Helen Morgan called for an end to corridor care by the end of this Parliament and slammed the Government for its ‘cruel axing’ of mental health targets in a key-note speech at the Liberal Democrat conference.

Helen also hit out at the Government’s slow pace tackling social care during her address at the party conference in Harrogate, and highlighted the dire situation faced by many of her constituents and Shropshire residents when in urgent medical need.

The Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care called for action to fix the dangerously long ambulance and A&E wait times blighting Shropshire and the crises facing GP surgeries, community pharmacies and NHS dentists across the country.

She called for a winter task force, which will work throughout the summer, to prevent the annual winter crisis. This would include a £1.5 billion ring-fenced fund to ensure that extra beds - and critically the extra staff - are available in the winter when they are both needed.

Helen also urged the Government to fix social care now, not kick the can down the road to 2028 until the Casey Commission reports its findings, and demanded a Government U-turn on its dismissed mental health targets.

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said, “We are currently facing a crisis throughout the health and social care system in our nation, and I was grateful be able to address this at the Liberal Democrat party conference.

“The Conservatives brought our NHS to its knees, but Labour have done next to nothing so far to turn it around.

“The truth is, the Liberal Democrats are providing the only real opposition to this Labour Government when it comes to the NHS and Care.

“We will support the Government when they get things right – and challenge them when they don’t. Challenge them on the cruel axing of mental health targets. Challenge them to fix social care now – not in three years’ time. And challenge them to end the annual winter crisis once and for all.”