The Observer view on the social care crisis: whoever wins the election, it needs addressing urgently
Labour and the Tories are avoiding talking about how to fund the overhaul of a system that is failing the elderly and people with disabilities
There is one pressing issue affecting millions of people that has been conspicuous in its absence from the general election campaign so far. The parlous state of social care in England – a system that has been described as being in crisis for well over a decade – is leaving too many older people and those with disabilities without the personal care they need to lead a full and dignified life, with their relatives struggling to fill in as much as they can.
Yet neither of the main political parties seems willing to have an honest conversation with voters about the cost of a care system that caters for an ageing society, and on whose shoulders it should fall.
Continue reading...