Call to do more to address care sector ‘crisis’

EAST Runcorn Labour MP Mike Amesbury has called for more to be done to tackle the ‘crisis’ in the country’s care sector.

Speaking in a Parliamentary debate, he raised the case of Cheshire West And Chester Council’s integrated care team based in Frodsham, which Mr Amesbury said was understaffed and underfunded despite doing excellent work.

He called the treatment of the elderly and vulnerable ‘the benchmark of a civil society’ but said they had been let down in his constituency of Weaver Vale and across the country.

He told the Commons: “Whether care workers, nurses, social workers or volunteers who look after their neighbours, these people are motivated by a simple principle.

“As a country, we should care for, and care about, everyone in our society.

“Sadly, the reason we are hav- ing this debate today is that, when it comes to sharing and showing support for those values, this Government have let down the very people who deliver them and have failed those who rely on them.”

He added: “Councils in my constituency have seen their budgets cut by 43%, with the most vulnerable struggling to access the care they need.

“Like many former councillors in this chamber, I saw at first hand what cuts did to services and the effect on the people who relied on them.

“Now, as an MP, I witness this all too often.

“That effect was ignored by this Government again and again, until the Prime Minister was finally forced to listen.

“Even then, the action offered failed to deliver what was needed, putting the burden once again on local councils and residents, rather than on Downing Street.”