I hope politicians set aside fear during this general election campaign and address the social care crisis - David Blunkett

Critical for individuals, but also for any chance of putting the NHS back on its feet. As it is not just bed blocking that creates bottlenecks and enormously increased costs, but the revolving door of those requiring medical attention, moving in and out of hospital.

It is well over a decade ago now since leading statistician Andrew Dillnot produced a report on social care, which promoted the idea that there would be a cap on how much any individual would have to pay from their savings before the government stepped in to meet the difference.

Two problems arose. The first – which is still a challenge - was that this was about capping the amount people would have to find from their savings, and not about resources to invest in massively improving the service.

The second was that the emphasis was all about residential care, rather than that early intervention with what, in the jargon, is known as ‘domiciliary care’.

This takes me back to my teenage years. A time when my mother was seriously ill, my dad had sadly been killed in a works accident and we had my elderly grandfather living with us.

When he became too frail and my mother too ill to look after him, he went into what can only be described as a ‘workhouse’.

I visited him there and was horrified at the conditions; the sterile and debilitating environment and the lack of safety. He, God knows how, fell down steps and after a few days died: fragile and let down by the system.

I swore then that if I ever had the chance I would do something to ensure that as people grow older, they could do so with dignity and the respect they deserved. I got that chance.

Firstly, when, as a young member of Sheffield City Council, I took on the challenge of being the chair of what was then social services and started the process of putting things right. Secondly, carrying on this task when I led the council for seven years.

We closed, with the support of the NHS, the wing of the hospital he had been in. We established residential homes that were fit for the task, including the first-ever homes for those with dementia.

We expanded the already existing home help and warden service. The home helps did the shopping, the cleaning and the chatting, and the wardens were there for much more intensive help.

But here is a thought. We provided, back in the late 70s and throughout the 80s, that domiciliary support at home free of charge.

Of course, there was an assessment of need. People weren’t forced to use our service and could buy in for themselves. However, for the bulk of those who became frailer, there was a service available paid for from local taxation, with the support of central government.

Today, a free service would mean public money propping up the profits of private providers.

Not only did it work, but it also freed up resources from the health service.

We were able to do this in the 1970s, in part, by something that was put together by the late and formidable Barbara Castle. She had been the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services, when the Labour government was elected in 1974.

‘Joint Funding’ was just what it said. If the local authority and the local health service put together a plan, there would be money from the government for joint working. Something which, in the modern era, could be revamped to ensure that people did work closely together.

It wasn't necessary to have a complicated ‘package of care’, which rigidly required people to fit into the ‘package’ but rather to be there when the individual needed it.

This came to mind when an older relative of mine – sadly, now dead – decided that he didn't want people coming into his home four times a day. A couple of visits, help with the shopping and keeping an eye on whether he was taking tablets, was what was needed. What was on offer was not only more expensive than required, but also more intrusive.

So, in what remains of the general election campaign, I'm hoping that people will set aside the fear of what happened to Theresa May. Just an indication that putting the services back together again will be a priority, would be a step forward.

For we have at the moment a bureaucracy called Integrated Care Boards. Let us be frank, there's no integration, and it's not about care.

The truth is – and everyone of different political persuasions keeps saying it – the more we can devolve and localise the better. The nearer to people decisions are taken, the more likely it is that they will get it right.

But we have at the moment the worst of all worlds. Local government has been put in the incredibly difficult position of raising the local council tax to pay for social care, whilst the central government claimed credit by rolling in what was raised locally into what was contributed nationally. No one knows who is responsible.

This is a challenge an incoming government cannot duck.

David Blunkett served as the MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.