Elderly people and the boundary between health and social care 1946-91: whose responsibility?

This study, shows that while the problem has been defined differently over time, there has been more continuity than change. The boundary issue has manifested itself as a struggle over the respective responsibilities of health and local authorities, with both seeking to avoid caring for a growing group of people in need of nursing and/or medical attention on a regular, but not constant, basis.

Health officials, worried about the growing costs of hospital care and influenced by hospital doctors, increasingly sided with the health authorities, but without openly discussing the implications of a shift of responsibilities to local authorities.