Start the Week

Care and compassion


Listen Later

We are facing a crisis in care that could prove disastrous, according to the journalist Madeleine Bunting. Over five years she travelled the country to explore the value of care, talking to underpaid care-givers and distraught patients and families. She tells Andrew Marr that the impact of the care crisis will be felt throughout society, from the young to the old.

Jeremy Hunt was the longest-serving Health Secretary in history and added Social Care to his portfolio in 2018. He is now the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, having previously served as the Shadow Minister for Disabled People under a Labour government. He outlines the scale of the social care crisis, and explains why policy solutions have proved so difficult to enact - and so fiercely controversial.

Dr Helen Kingston is a GP in Somerset who recognised the impact loneliness was having on the physical health of her patients. She helped set up the ‘Compassionate Frome’ project in 2013, bringing together more than 400 local care providers and volunteers to help people reconnect with their community. As well as having a huge impact on individual lives, studies have shown a dramatic drop in hospital admissions in the area.

Producer: Katy Hickman

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Start the WeekBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

154 ratings


More shows like Start the Week

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,714 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

319 Listeners

The Archers by BBC Radio 4

The Archers

1,077 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

376 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

884 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,070 Listeners

The Reith Lectures by BBC Radio 4

The Reith Lectures

152 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,537 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,795 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

306 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,759 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,031 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,921 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

501 Listeners

Profile by BBC Radio 4

Profile

110 Listeners

Moral Maze by BBC Radio 4

Moral Maze

64 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

130 Listeners

The Politics Show by The New Statesman

The Politics Show

134 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

52 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

68 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,170 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,003 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

118 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,406 Listeners