Asked to name the most pressing challenges facing governments north and south of the border, most people would point to low economic growth, burgeoning taxation, illegal immigration and perhaps falling education standards.

Few would mention bed blocking. Many people might even be unaware what the term means, and yet it is the most visible symptom of what should be the number one priority for any decent society – ensuring that its most elderly and vulnerable members are properly cared for.

Bed blocking is a technical term, assigned by health service managers, for when generally older hospital inpatients no longer require medical treatment, but have no care arrangements in place for them when they are discharged.

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In most cases, they will live alone, have few or no friends or relatives to look after them, and lack the financial means to pay for private care.

Ensuring that such people are not left to their own devices, to rot and possibly die at home, should be a minimum requirement of any government, and yet it appears to be one of the most intractable problems facing politicians.

In simple terms, it arises because the National Health Service provides medical treatment, while personal care services are provided by local authorities – two monolithic public bureaucracies who seem unable or unwilling to co-operate effectively.

The Scottish Government’s most recent attempt to ensure that people can pass safely and seamlessly from one to the other, was the National Care Service. Launched amid a fanfare of publicity in 2021, it was described by the then first minister Nicola........

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