Healthy people are being forced to stay in hospital because of a lack of social care – and it’s an indictment of our current systemPoliticians talk constantly about the crisis in social care, and the pressure it puts on the NHS, so that the words just turn into a hum. Then you brush against that in real life and think why is anyone, with any kind of authority over anything, doing any activity that isn’t sorting out social care?My mum has been in hospital, on a ward with five other patients, most of whom are vocally very displeased with being there. My mum just wants to feel less crappy, and fair play, who wouldn’t? The woman diagonally opposite just wants to see a doctor, but is a bit fogged on when she last saw one, which is hard. The woman directly opposite has a massive family, and gets constant Fomo, even when they’re all – even the teenagers – right round her bed, and she’s the event she would otherwise be missing out on. The woman in the corner was incredibly buoyed by the app...
Zoe Williams reflects on her experience on a crowded hospital ward where patients, including her mother, are unable to leave due to inadequate social care. Each patient's situation highlights the human impact of the social care crisis: one woman longs to see a doctor, another deals with FOMO despite family visits, and another misses her own dog after being comforted by an emotional support dog. The article critiques the systemic failure to address the social care crisis, emphasizing how it forces medics to make non-medical decisions, stripping patients of their autonomy. Williams underscores the need for systemic change to prevent such injustices.
