Social care in the United Kingdom
In the past social care was largely a family affair.  Not many people survived to live long with severe health problems.  People who were born disabled or with  learning difficulty were often put in long stay hospitals for life.  People with mental illness often lived in big hospitals for years. These institutions have mostly closed and now more people get help in their own homes or in group homes. They may pay for it, or it may be supplied by the local council.  People who pay themselves pay a lot more than what the council pays.  More people need social care as more people live to be old and people survive with conditions which in earlier times would have meant an early death. The 1948 National Assistance Act set up old people's homes, run by local government in England, and geriatric wards in hospitals.  Conditions in the geriatric wards were often poor.  Many were in former workhouses.  They were closed and now people end up in nursing homes which are private and they may have to pay.  Some are small firms, with a single care home, some are part of huge chains backed by venture capital.   HC-One is Britain’s biggest, with about 20,000 staff and 321 homes.  About 400,000 people are in residential institutions and about the same number get care in their own homes.