Social care: why are we 'beyond the crisis point'?

Funding cuts, staff costs and rising need have spurred the government to consider increasing council tax

There is not a crisis in adult social care, says Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association. "We are now beyond the crisis point. We really are at the edge of the cliff now."

Residential care homes are closing at an unprecedented rate, hospitals are logjammed with elderly patients with nowhere to go; in the community, local authority cuts are leaving more than a million people desperately in need of more assistance in their homes.

Related: Council tax hike being considered to cover social care costs