Shropshire Star

Star Comment: Why Labour must tackle NHS, social care and hospice crisis

Every government that comes in afresh talks of a desire to solve the problem of both the NHS and social care.

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Social Care spelled out in Scrabble letters on a map of England

And, such is the complexity of the problem, they have all failed.

The problem is that every element of care, from arriving in hospital, to being discharged and then moving to care at home or through a nursing home are inter-connected.

Today a report suggests there is some success in getting people out of hospital beds earlier, tackling the issue of hospital capacity and reducing the risk of A&E departments blocked with patients who have no wards to go to.

But releasing vulnerable patients from hospital simply pushes them into the care system, and that subsequently pushes the crisis elsewhere.