It’s like putting a broken leg into plaster then kicking away the crutches on which the patient is leaning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has promised “whatever action is required” in the budget to help the NHS cope with coronavirus and yet the government still has no answer to the crisis in social care.

The Covid-19 outbreak is another reminder that the divide between the health and social care systems is not only artificial, it is counterproductive. With elderly people more vulnerable to the disease, the pressure on hospitals is sure to grow but what could turn difficulty into disaster is the lack of social care for those who are well enough to go home.

Already NHS wards are full of elderly patients who have no