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The elephant in the room  There are some policy areas that are so complicated that the public prefer to ignore them and politicians feel reluctant to address them.  I want to tackle some of these "elephants in the room" in this "Too Difficult" series.  I have a little list which starts with planning, pensions, social care and local government finance but I suspect there will be others.

The views expressed in this Blog are mine and do not necessarily represent County Council policy or Conservative Party policy

I am not clever enough to create a reply function on this web site but, if you would like to e-mail a response to me on anything below, here is my  e-mail address and I will consider uploading it to this site.  If I do upload it, I will do so without alteration and with the author's name. 

What has gone wrong?  There is growing evidence that our health care system is failing patients badly.  There are terrible stories about patients;

I am sorry to say that I believe there is some truth in these stories and I think I know why. 

Back in 2000, the nursing profession was converted to a graduate only profession.  I think this was a huge mistake;  it closed the door to many good people who would have been brilliant carers for health service patients.  What the graduate-only rule did was to open the door to those with an interest in health care management but with no appetite to wipe patients' bottoms, to help them feed themselves or to worry about their general care.  I know this will offend many nurses but I challenge them to demonstrate a lack of evidence for this view. I know this view is politically incorrect and there are plenty who will be pleased to attack me as a non-graduate.  I am wholly unrepentant and I strongly believe the NHS is in great danger until it can attract sufficient caring staff members from a range of intellectual disciplines. 

I am convinced there is a large community of people with caring ambitions and the time and capacity to deliver them who are blocked from pursuing this career path because of the graduate-only rule in nursing.

The professionalisation of nursing is, in my view, a serious mistake and needs reforming.  There is a range of skills and job opportunities from caring for people in their homes, through care in nursing homes and hospitals to nurse management and the basic levels of medical care.  I am convinced what this country needs is the potential for a demonstrable career continuum from supporting basic bodily functions in social care through all levels of social and nursing care on to minor medical care and further to many hospital services.  I am convinced that demonstrating a continuing career ladder through the social and health care sector can only address the failings we are currently witnessing.

This is too urgent to commit to the long grass;  we need to make the changes.