The silence of the bedpans
Why is social care barely talked about in Britain’s election?
IN 2016, 6% of over-65s in Britain received publicly funded long-term care. By 2023 this proportion had fallen to 5%. That is not because Britons are getting healthier. Quite the opposite. Local councils, which fund social care only for those with the greatest need and the fewest assets, have faced real-terms cuts of 18% per person to their budgets since 2010. Less than half of the elderly who need care receive any support; overcrowded hospital wards in the National Health Service (NHS) end up taking much of the strain.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The silence of the bedpans”
Britain June 22nd 2024
- Britain’s Conservatives rule the Thames Estuary. Not for long
- What taxes might Labour raise?
- Child poverty will be a test of Labour’s fiscal prudence
- Climate change casts a shadow over Britain’s biggest food export
- Jeremy Corbyn wants more nice things, fewer nasty ones
- The silence of the bedpans
- Britain’s Conservatives are losing as they governed. Meekly
From the June 22nd 2024 edition
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