AN AGEING population means that more of us are in need of care than ever before, and I know from my constituency mail bag as well as my work as Public Health Minister that a truly integrated health and social care system is essential to meet our needs.

Everyone wants their relatives to be comfortable and cared for as they reach old age.

Analysis from Age UK shows that one in three people aged 80 and over will suffer poor health and will need help with either dressing, getting up, eating, going to the toilet or washing, and this Government wants Britain to be the best country in the world to grow old in.

For years here in Oxfordshire, we have struggled with bed blocking – where a patient is ready to leave hospital but is delayed in their move to acute or community care.

This may be for a number of reasons: finding beds in community hospitals, organising care through a home visitor or amongst family, or finding a space in a nursing home. We are certainly not unique in this respect and it is therefore essential that our services are working together to arrange the next stage of care, as there can be no doubt that these delays impact on NHS performance as a whole.

The social care system currently supports over a million people across the country and steps have been taken to give local authorities more powers to raise revenue specifically for social care.

Now, the Chancellor has provided an additional £2 billion for social care over the next three years with the aim of helping authorities to commission new care packages. Alongside this the recent Budget brought forward £100 million for improving A&E departments and £325 million to back local NHS transformation plans; ultimately helping our hospitals to discharge people more quickly whilst also providing the capital funding to help divert more minor cases away from busy A&Es.

That said, experience has also taught me that is not all about the money. It’s about making sure that funding is spent in the smartest way possible, embracing and developing innovative solutions to these problems. That is why I was pleased to see the Chancellor announce a new Green Paper to look further forwards and set out proposals for social care reform, giving community organisations, frontline services and experts from across the sector an opportunity to work with the Government to find sustainable solutions and reaffirming our long-term commitment to all those who rely on our health and care system.

Its good news that our local statistics for bed blocking are looking much more promising now, but nationally bed blocking has risen by 40 per cent in the past year, and so it is more important than ever to drive forward a seamless health and social care system. Oxford has a proven track record of innovative thinking transforming our services, and we must harness this to provide better support at home and earlier treatment in the community.