The Royal College of Nursing’s suggestion that hospital visiting hours should be extended so visitors can tend to the needs of hospital patients, particularly older people, highlights, yet again, the inadequacy of UK care. With an ageing population and a woefully underfunded system of care, we are heading for a major crisis if we do not wake up to the challenges that are already upon us. When it comes to care for older people, a fortune is spent on the health service, but care is considered very much the poor relation.

Yet inadequate care of elderly patients can be just as life-threatening as inadequate attention to their medical needs. We read about pensioners dying of malnutrition in hospitals and of nursing staff so overstretched that they neglect the basic care needs of the elderly. This is a result of years of underfunding for care.