Last week, headlines of ‘bedblockers deepening the hospital crisis’ hit again. Figures for November 2014 showed that more than 5,000 hospital patients had no arrangements for after care, an increase of 20% from the year before.

Why are we able to find money to put tents on hospital car parks every winter, but struggle to make the shift to treating early intervention as fundamental to the spectrum of service delivery? As the ageing population grows, we simply cannot afford to go on waiting for older people to reach crisis before providing support.

The responsibility for early intervention lies with many parts of the public sector. However, districts can and do play a significant role in providing help earlier, identifying and supporting people before their needs escalate. Rather than being viewed as the poor relation, districts must have an equal stake in the collaborative approach to prevention as we are often the ones who get on and do. In South Norfolk we have a commitment to support 1,800 vulnerable people to remain safely in their own homes in 2014/15.