Millions of pounds intended to fund respite breaks for voluntary carers has been spent on other areas of the NHS, according to two charities. The government announced in 2008 that it was doubling money set aside to allow long-term carers some time off – £50m this year and...

The Conservatives are refusing to take part in a conference about the future of social care in England, as they say the summit is a "political ploy". Labour and the Lib Dems will join care providers and charities in talks over options for a national care service. Many are likely to...

Adam BrimelowHealth Correspondent, BBC News Gordon Brown has given more details of Labour’s plans to provide dedicated one-to-one specialist nursing for everyone in England with cancer. In a speech in central London the prime minister said the move would transform the experience of...

Dementia now costs the UK economy twice as much as cancer but gets a fraction of the funding to find causes and cures, a report seen by the BBC shows. For every one pound spent on dementia research, 12 times that sum goes on investigating cancer, figures from the Alzheimer’s Research...