Truro and Falmouth’s Member of Parliament Cherilyn Mackrory has highlighted the Critical Incident for adult social care which was declared this week in Cornwall in Parliament, while welcoming the pending end of Plan B Covid-19 restrictions, which will increase hospital capacity.
Speaking in Parliament today in response to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement on the end of COVID-19 restrictions in England.
Cherilyn said:
“I thank the Prime Minister for his statement today, which I am sure will welcomed by people across Cornwall. I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to the NHS and social care staff across Cornwall, who have cared not only for the people of Cornwall, but for members of my family throughout this pandemic.”
“Last night, Cornwall Council announced that we were in a critical incident for adult social care. As we know, this is multifaceted, but one of the reasons Cornwall hospitals have struggled in this pandemic is that the brilliant infection control they have had to put in place in hospitals has lowered the capacity of beds. With this announcement, can my right hon. Friend and the Secretary of State work at pace to give hospitals the reassurance that that can soon be lifted?”
In response the Prime Minister agreed with Cherilyn and highlighted the additional £300million funding given by the Government as part of the NHS Winter Plan.
Speaking after the debate, Cherilyn said:
“Today’s announcement by our Prime Minister that the Government will be ending Plan B Covid-19 restrictions over the coming week is excellent news. The data we are using shows that the Government’s swift action when the Omicron variant was first identified was the right thing to do. With this in mind, our hospitals will now be able make more effective use of the space and beds available to them. Therefore I very much hope this will help our excellent NHS teams in Cornwall to better manage their sites and in turn clear the critical incident we are currently experiencing.”