A CROSS-party solution to the country’s ‘care crisis’ has been called for by West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour.

Mrs Gilmour said the system was at ‘breaking point’ as analysis revealed more than 3,300 elderly people across the county were denied care in 2024-25 along with more than 1,100 disabled working-age adults.

She demanded ‘we finally do things differently’ to reach a cross-party solution to the social care crisis.

Mrs Gilmour, said: “Every week, I speak to families who have reached breaking point.

“Too many people are being left isolated and unsupported without the care they need.

“The crisis in social care is a millstone around the neck of our community.

“It' is clobbering families in Somerset, squeezing budgets for our local council services, and undermining our NHS.

“There have been 22 failed attempts to fix social care in the last few decades.

“We have to do things differently this time.

“Liberal Democrats want to work across the party divide in order to find a lasting solution to this crisis.

“My priorities are clear, family carers must be at the heart of any proposals, everybody should be able to get care regardless of means, and nobody should lose their home or life savings on catastrophic care costs.”

Mrs Gilmour said the social care crisis had a major knock on effect on the NHS, with record numbers now stuck in hospitals who were medically fit to be discharged.

Analysis showed a record 2.46 million hospital bed days had been lost to delayed discharges so far in 2026, higher than the equivalent period for any previous year.

Mrs Gilmour said a failure to act on social care reforms by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham would be a catastrophe for families, for the NHS, and for local services.