WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama expressed anger on Wednesday about delays in care for wounded US veterans, saying he will begin next week to get answers from investigations into what went wrong and who to hold accountable.

"When I hear allegations of misconduct, any misconduct, whether it's allegations of VA (Veterans Affairs) staff covering up long wait times or cooking the books, I will not stand for it, not as commander in chief, but also not as an American," Mr Obama said after meeting with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

He said Mr Shinseki is committed to helping fix the problems at VA hospitals "at this stage" but left open the option that the latter might eventually step down over the issues.