The NHS’s year-round hospital overcrowding is not the product of a single failing, but the result of two interdependent systems under pressure: health and social care (NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts say, 1 September). The government’s ambition to build an “NHS fit for the future” through prevention, neighbourhood services and digital tools is welcome, but this vision risks treating symptoms rather than causes if social care is left out of the equation.
Unless there is sufficient capacity in community-based social care to support people recovering at home, the logjam will persist, and “corridor care” will remain a reality. The evidence is clear: timely investment in community services such as reablement and intermediate care prevents unnecessary admissions, speeds up safe discharges, and delivers strong returns on investment for the NHS.
Reform is overdue. The government has set out a roadmap for NHS transformation, but, with the Casey commission not reporting until 2028, social care reform is still pending. By then, the NHS reform agenda will already be years ahead, and the disconnection between the two systems will have deepened. If ministers are serious about relieving pressure on hospitals, they must treat health and social care as equal partners. Social care is not optional to NHS recovery; it is central to it.
Kathryn Marsden
Chief executive, Social Care Institute for Excellence
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