Fifteen minute ‘flying’ care visits. Concerns about whether care workers are being paid the minimum wage. And now the Royal College of Nursing warns us that district nurses are a threatened species.

Is there ever a week that goes by where local authorities aren’t taking some of the blame for problems in social care?

Most observers recognise central government also needs to take some responsibility for solving these problems, but until adult social care is funded so local authorities can realistically meet the demands of an ageing population, we will be locked into a blame game, with councils taking the brunt.