PATIENTS and staff at Bury General Hospital had a larger than life visitor when Chancellor Kenneth Clarke called in.
He chatted to staff, laughed and joked with patients - and even helped Mrs Margaret Davies, of Hillock Estate, Whitefield, with her crossword!
Accompanied by Bury North MP Alistair Burt, Mr Clarke said: "It's a place of bustling activity and obviously serving the people of Bury very well."
But Mr Clarke was forced to face questions over Bury's bed-blocking situation, where 46 elderly patients are occupying hospital beds as cash-strapped social services struggle to fund places in nursing homes.
Mr Clarke refused to accept that the economy was causing the situation, instead placing the blame on "liaison between social services and the local hospital".
He added: "Bed-blocking is not an economic problem. The local authority has all the funding for a well-run local authority to make provision for discharges from hospital."
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