Confront this crisis

LAUNCHED on the public without warning, is it any wonder radical plans to reform social care – and the U-turn which followed – proved to be Theresa May’s electoral undoing?

Nevertheless, she showed a creditable willingness to confront the problems in our care system, which were highlighted again this week by the Care Quality Commission.

One in three nursing homes failing to meet basic standards… Residents ignored when struggling to eat… Home care visits lasting just six minutes…

The system is crumbling, and things are only going to get worse. Another report found the number of dementia sufferers will increase by two-thirds, to 1.2million, within the next 25 years.

During the election campaign, Mrs May’s opponents cynically branded her policy a ‘dementia tax’.

This cheap point-scoring must end, and politicians – who have for decades dumped funding the NHS and elderly care in the pile marked ‘too difficult’ – must confront what is the greatest social problem of our age.