Ambulance waiting times at The Royal Cornwall Hospital

Adjournment debate

Ambulance outside of an A&E

On Wednesday 29 June, Cherilyn Mackrory MP led an adjournment debate on ambulance waiting times at The Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Introducing the topic, she gave the following statement:

“The issue of ambulance waiting times at Treliske is a vital issue for everyone in Cornwall.
"These delays are not to do with ambulance service call handlers; they are a whole-system issue and are impacted by acute challenges elsewhere in the system, particularly with hospital capacity and patient flow.
"As such, a whole-system approach is needed to tackle this issue, and I called on the Government to do all it can to prioritise this issue so we can deliver the necessary improvements.”
Cherilyn Mackrory MP

Cherilyn Mackrory MP

Parliamentary activity and resources

Photograph of House of Commons library

How it works

House of Commons Chamber

What is an adjournment debate?

Adjournment debates take place at the end of each sitting day in the House of Commons Chamber and usually last for 30 minutes.

They are held on the motion ‘that the House do now adjourn’. In other words, once the adjournment debate has finished, the House will close for the day.

Any backbench MP can apply to hold an adjournment debate on any subject which the Government are responsible for, providing it does not call for legislation.

Ordinarily, the MP holding the adjournment debate will make a speech of approximately 15 minutes. Following on from this the responding minister can speak for the remaining amount of time. Other MPs may intervene during the speeches, however they must have been granted permission to do so by either the MP or minister.

How Parliament works: Adjournment debates.

Search parliamentary materials

Find parliamentary activity on issues which interest you

House of Commons chair

Photo credit: UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor