[Osem]

I think we have to look at this holistically. It's easy to claim something's a cheaper alternative when many of the hidden costs are overlooked, delayed or just discounted. So it may be the case that providing a couple of hours care in someone's home looks much cheaper on the local authority's books but what about all the costs which are then passed onto others in one way or another - including the NHS when old people are hospitalised because they can't cope on their own or their needs have changed and their existing care package isn't sufficient? What about the cost in lost time/work to other carers who're forced to step in at short notice? If he only thing departments care about is their own budgets it's not surprising that we don't get good value for money as the temptation is to leave others to pick up the tab.