Unsurprisingly political parties have steered clear of the vexed subject of social care funding even though inevitably it will be one of the top priorities for the next government. Neither Labour or Conservative have exactly covered themselves with glory when social care has surfaced as an election issue, each accusing the other of planning ‘death taxes' or ‘dementia taxes' and then promptly walking away from any responsibility.

We await without holding our breath for the time when a proper cross-party consensus can be created to tackle what is perhaps the greatest threat to the viability of the public finances. For unlike the NHS which becomes a binary choice for politicians between spending more or spending even more, social care is too complex, devoid of glamour and drama and above all associated, unlike the NHS, not with repair and renewal that we will all experience but end of life which we would prefer to ignore.