In his first speech as UK prime minister last summer, Boris Johnson promised to fix the crisis in social care. Yet last week’s Budget gave more focus and funding to potholes than social care.
This is a serious mistake, especially with the immediate and overriding challenge facing the government: dealing with coronavirus. This simply cannot be done without a properly functioning system of social care.
In January alone, more than 160,000 NHS bed days were lost because of delayed transfers of care. This problem will only worsen as coronavirus spreads and pressures on the NHS increase.
We urgently need a plan for social care both for coronavirus and for the longer term, and the Prime Minister must take action now. You can watch my question about this to Matt Hancock above and read more in my piece for the FT here.
