Some 14 years ago at a social care conference I listened to the then new Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley expound his view on the future of the NHS. He, like most health ministers, accepted that care and health were inextricably entwined, that addressing the social determinants of health like housing or pollution and poverty were local government responsibilities, but in practice the two sectors were far apart.

He even admitted that, in opposition, his party had considered whether to give responsibility for the NHS to local government. The argument against it was that the NHS would soon soak up every item of local government spending, that councillors faced the dilemma of whether to allocate cash to mending potholes or cancer treatment – and would have no alternative but to opt for the latter.