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The government wants greater integration between health and social care, apparently, but little thought has been given as to how this will be achieved, says Bob Hudson Guardian readers woke up on Thursday to a remarkable headline – David Cameron orders merging of health and social care . Health secretary Andrew Lansley has been told, it was said, to "drive through the changes". Could over 60 years of frustrating fragmentation be coming to an end so swiftly and simply? The occasion of the story is a new report from the establishment think tanks, the King's Fund and Nuffield Trust ...

Economist says providing long-term care for senior citizens is an issue of choice and not affordability Andrew Dilnot, chair of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support, said it is "nonsense" for anyone to say that the UK cannot afford adult long-term social care. "It is an issue of choice and not affordability," he told the King's Fund's 2011 annual conference. "Of course we have to make choices about spending on health and long-term care, and then how much do we spend as individuals or collectively through the state," He pointed out that, as a country...

The Welsh government's five year vision is to have fewer people in hospitals by moving care closer to home Alarm bells are ringing for health and social care in Wales. A new strategy paper from the Welsh Assembly Government recognises that with the country's NHS attempting to save nearly £500m this year there is a need for change, and fast. Titled Together for Health: a five year vision for the NHS in Wales , it outlines how hospitals will change for the 21st century – but relies heavily on care moving closer to home, with a more integrated network of care. The Welsh government recognises...

Promoters of social care reforms are claiming that they could mean significant savings on healthcare Lord Warner did not mince his words when speaking to the National Children and Adult Services conference last week. "You are the saviours of the NHS, which is something politicians care about," he told the audience of social care providers. Warner, a former Labour health minister, had a simple calculation to back up his argument: elderly patients are usually cared for better and more cheaply through social care services than in acute healthcare. He told the conference that too many 80...

County's cabinet member for adult social care criticises health and social care bill's plans for local authorities The government's health and social care bill has been written for unitary authorities and metropolitan boroughs, and does not demonstrate understanding of how two tier authorities would handle changes to social care, according to James Airey, cabinet member for adult social care at Cumbria county council. Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in London, Airey, who is also joint chair of Cumbria's health and wellbeing board, told the audience...

Councils may have the will to take on their new responsibilities for public health, but do they have the way? "Smokers Wanted", announced the sign above an information stall at a sixth-form college in Swindon. The quirky take on the usual stop-smoking message drew students' attention to the public health campaign by multi-agency group the Swindon Tobacco Control Partnership . Last year's innovative drive aimed to encourage young smokers to curb their nicotine habits. It is one of several projects the nine-year-old partnership runs, involving health, education and local government...

Summit speakers call for a fundamental rethink of public services in Scotland in age of austerity but policies for free health and education to remain put There must be a fundamental rethink of public services in Scotland, according to discussions at the Guardian Public Services Summit in Edinburgh. Taking place on Thursday, the day after Scottish finance minister John Swinney announced the spending review for Scotland's public services for the next three years, the Guardian summit explored the detail of how Scotland can face up to growing demand for public services in a continuing age of austerity...