Tim Farron has described new research linking tens of thousands of deaths to a lack of proper social care as a “national scandal” and has called for action, including a potential tax rise.

The new research paper by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford concluded that “the evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care”

Tim said:

It is a national scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, vulnerable older people are missing out on the services they need and may even have died due to poor care.

Our health and care services are at crisis point and struggling to cope.

Day after day we hear more stories about services being cut back and targets being missed, yet there is a deafening silence from Number 10 and the Department of Health.

I don’t know how bad the figures need to get for Government to actually take action.

Only the Liberal Democrats are prepared to make the case that we may need to raise tax to pay for the NHS and social care services people deserve.