It's the competitive market in social care that has hammered down standards. The NHS must not follow care homes down the route of privatised provision.
Today, social responses to peoples' needs are being pushed to the margin by the reframing of all tasks in terms of economic gain. But the development of human capabilities depends on relationships. A different set of values is needed.
If assisted dying is legalised in England and Wales, then society’s neglect of older people, combined with increased poverty and the lack of home care services could drive up demand. Doctors should speak out.
The welfare of children should be everybody's business but both health and social care reforms and wider austerity policies are failing to address this vital issue. The situation is reaching a crisis point - a new BMA report suggests how government should respond.
Both Labour and the Conservatives are keen to integrate social care and health care. But will these proposals put patients at their heart - or will they be driven by the needs of bureaucracy or even business?
Personal budgets have serious implications for the ethos of the NHS which must be considered if health and social care are to be merged - universality and provision based on need are principles we should not be so quick to abandon.
Aside from whether patients welcome the cash payments there are wider issues that need addressing, namely whether the scheme strips cash from the NHS and so weakens the service for others; will it be a subsidy for private care; and who steps in if the money is spent before the year is up?
