Social care consequences must not be ducked during general election – The Yorkshire Post says

THIS WEEKEND’S report about an ageing society – and how changing demographics will alter the face of every Yorkshire community in the decades to come – should be placed in the context of the last election.
By YP Comment
Published 17th Nov 2019, 06:05 BST
Social care should be a defining issue in the 2019 election.Social care should be a defining issue in the 2019 election.
Social care should be a defining issue in the 2019 election.

Theresa May did, at least, acknowledge the importance of the issue in 2017 – the problem was that her party’s manifesto proposals on social care were so cackhanded, and ill-conceived, that they prompted an embarrassing U-turn following a political and public outcry.

An open letter to Boris Johnson on social care and on behalf of all dementia victims – Mike Padgham

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Yet the issue has not gone away. Quite the opposite. Its importance has increased still further in the intervening period – demand for care services continues to increase with each passing day – while politicians have simply paid ‘lip service’ to the need to ensure that the elderly, vulnerable and isolated can live with dignity.

Local, regional and national leaders need to respond to the demands of an ageing society.Local, regional and national leaders need to respond to the demands of an ageing society.
Local, regional and national leaders need to respond to the demands of an ageing society.

NHS needs more money and better management if A&E waiting time targets are to be met by hospitals – The Yorkshire Post says

Countless promises by Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock, the past and present Health and Social Care Secretaries, to publish a policy prospectus have failed to materialise; Boris Johnson appears to have forgotten his Downing Street pledge, on the day he succeeded Mrs May, to prioritise the issue and Labour appear preoccupied with scoring cheap political points rather than grasping the magnitude of the challenge.

However what they fail to realise, as they refuse to deviate from their pre-rehearsed election scripts, is that the cost of inaction is an even greater care crisis that will be even more difficult to reconcile and resolve when the next Parliament convenes. After all, the consequences of this social care vacuum will continue to be felt long after Brexit has been resolved and reconciled.

Related topics:Theresa MayYorkshireBoris JohnsonYorkshire PostMatt HancockJeremy HuntNHS