You really need to read the whole article. The social care system is on the verge of being completely broken, which in turn makes it impossible to fix the NHS. But the cost is enormous and the government has no way of raising the money without choking off the growth they are so desperate to generate. On top of all that we have an aging population and therefore the demographics is working against us as well. Maybe the problem cannot be fixed. If this Labour government can't or doesn't fix it, then it won't get fixed. The bottom line is that there is no coherent plan for dealing with adult social care and we are heading towards an unprecedented situation. We can't even say it is going to go back to how things were before the NHS was created, partly because average life spans have significantly increased and partly because at that time people could be cared for by their own families -- society has changed, most women aren't housewives anymore, people have come to expect not to have to look after their parents.Sir Keir Starmer’s first five months have produced little sign of a plan for Labour’s promised National Care Service – and now I’m told there is a “genuine impasse” at the top of government over what to do about social care.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting publicly acknowledges “we can’t solve the NHS crisis” without improving what a government source describes as an “appalling” situation, in a system that’s meant to look after vulnerable and elderly adults in England.
But multiple sources tell me the Treasury is deeply nervous about the cost and that the prime minister is yet to make a decision on how to proceed.
Talks have so far failed to decide even whether to hold another review of the system. “Dither, dither, dither,” said one insider involved in the discussions.
But another source said: “Everyone wants to fix it but we don’t want to embark on something that then doesn’t happen.”
Labour's problem has now become how they break this news to the public, or how they try to hide it. But I don't see how they *can* hide it, given that they will be crucified at the next election if they attempt to do so. They've either got to do something about the problem, or admit that they can't.