Peter Rhodes on sunless days, social care and a government hitting the ground crawling
Ever since its foundation in 1948, the NHS has been helping us to live longer. Unfortunately, no-one has answered this question: when the population becomes top-heavy with frail old people, who will wash them, feed them and put them to bed?
No subject has churned out more pious hopes, research and statistics than social care. The result is a mish-mash of second-rate, unfair care which is a national embarrassment that no-one knows how to pay for. Coming soon – more of the same.
You may have thought that “Changed Labour” would hit the ground running on social care. Instead, they hit the ground barely crawling. A new independent commission on the issue will not start work until April and its proposals won't be revealed until 2028. God knows how many old folk will perish through neglect, or be forced to hand over all their wordly possessions to the care home industry, between now and then.
