I READ your opinion piece on the NHS with interest. One of the great successes of our society is that people are living longer.

That creates its own challenges; how to pay for the social care needs of an increasingly elderly population.

The issues are no surprise but have not been faced by Government and the public.

The biggest current problem for the NHS is generally agreed to be social care, particularly for the elderly. While NHS funding has increased a little, social care has been cut.

The solutions are intellectually easy but politically difficult. If we want the state to provide better social care for all of our elderly citizens; more money needs to taken by the state from individuals to pay for it. Everyone will need to pay more, but the people who should probably make the biggest contribution are the wealthier elderly.

However, this is the group who are the bedrock of the Conservative vote.

Any solution needs to be bipartisan therefore (crudely, to prevent opposition parties from exploiting what most people know needs to be done). It’s time to stop making party political points over the NHS and social care. We need an adult conversation led by our representatives; either higher taxes or worse services for the elderly.

We need independent and experienced MPs from all parties to raise this issue. Any suggestions for MPs who could do this locally ?

And to declare any possible conflict of interest; I am a NHS employee.

Mark Swinton Cheshire