Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to Sky’s investigation into record levels of bed-blocking in England’s hospitals, said:
 
“It is truly sad that record numbers of older people are trapped in hospital when they are well enough to be at home. Rather than rising to the challenge of the ageing society, we are instead going backwards and care of older people is getting worse. 

“This sorry state of affairs is a direct result of David Cameron’s decision to take home care away from hundreds of thousands of older people. It is a false economy that is piling pressure on hospitals and is a root cause of the A&E crisis. 

“We can’t carry on like this. Labour has pledged an extra £2.5 billion per year for the NHS to pay for extra staff, including 5,000 new homecare workers – investment the Tories won’t match.

“If things don’t change, our hospitals will be overwhelmed and more and more people will fear growing old. Labour has repeatedly warned David Cameron about the growing social care crisis and he can’t keep ignoring it. It shows he can’t be trusted with the NHS. He needs to intervene urgently to prevent the collapse of social care services in England.”