‘I sit and cry every day’: How the care system is failing those in need

Given what many families face, the need for reform is urgent, writes Jane Dalton

Helen Phipps Watson and her husband, Ian (Helen Phipps Watson)

The social care system is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of sick, elderly and disabled people and their families, and the NHS relies on it to be able to admit patients to hospital. But it’s on its knees. The warnings from patients, families, charities and council chiefs have been coming thick and fast, flashing red alerts.

Services in England are so overstretched that people are left struggling without vital support to carry out everyday tasks in their own homes, and lives are being blighted.

Now The Independent can reveal some of the effects the crisis is having including: