The generally sceptical response to the Government's plan to cut £400m a year from the NHS budget by treating conditions such as heart disease and asthma at home rather than in hospital is hardly surprising.

While some of those who have expressed doubts have said that in principle they support care in the community rather than in hospital where appropriate, a common concern is that there simply aren't enough district nurses to cope with the extra work.

In fact the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing says that the existing ones are already working flat out and retirement is set to reduce numbers drastically over the next few years.

The Department of Health has drawn up a list of groups of patients who are often admitted to hospital three or more times a year. These are the people it's targeting, conveniently ignoring the fact that the reason they are admitted so often is usually that they're very poorly and need treatment and care.

If the proposed policy is to deliver an acceptable level of care in the home as an alternative, a lot of money needs to be put into the community nursing services. If it isn't, and the Government pushes ahead with this policy, who will look after the sick people in between occasional visits from a hard-pressed district nurse?

Local-authority services for elderly and disabled adults have already gone down this path. Their experience isn't encouraging. A report last week revealed that four out of five local authorities are moving to tighten their eligibility rules - and anyone who has had to deal with them will know that they are already far from slack.

The reason? The Government wants more older people to continue to live in their homes rather than going into residential care, but it isn't providing enough money to enable that to happen. There's a big funding gap, apparently, between what councils are spending on social care and the money the Government is allocating them in grants.

So in future only people whose needs are judged to be "critical" or "substantial" will be offered services by many councils. The rest, presumably, must soldier on as best they can or spend their savings (while they last) on buying private care.

On top of that, the criteria for long-term NHS funding for sick elderly and disabled people are being changed, making it harder for them to claim it and as a result throwing them on the means-tested mercies of local authorities which, as noted above, are being forced to reduce the amount of money they spend.

This is not a country in which to be growing old, I'm afraid - or one in which to suffer the misfortune to be chronically ill.

In fact, with the inequalities between rich and poor constantly growing, with the public sector becoming increasingly impoverished, with the safety net unravelling fast and insecurity undermining the lives of so many ordinary people, this is fast becoming a country in which it is difficult to look to the future with anything other than a sense of dread - unless you're a politician or a politician's stinking-rich friend.

Small wonder the Government wants pubs to open all hours, favours big casinos to get more of us gambling and is keen to encourage us to embrace a multitude of television channels largely showing rubbish.

A population which is permanently distracted or drunk is less likely to take to the streets in angry protest.

Catching up on ketchup

Heinz tomato ketchup was 130 years old this week. I came to ketchup late on, maybe not much more than a decade ago, after spending a lifetime mistakenly believing it tasted strongly of tomatoes, which have never been my favourites.

Then I tried some by mistake and realised that in fact it doesn't. It tastes likewell, tomato ketchup, and I like it! And what's more, it's supposed to be a bit of a health food too.

I've since sampled all sort of brands, but Heinz remains the best of the lot.

So many happy returns to it on behalf of myself and my grandson, who has ketchup with everything.

Put 'em on trial

The Iraq debacle this week passed its third anniversary. No-one knows how many Iraqis have died so far, although former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi estimated that 50 or 60 are currently being murdered every day.

Upto press 103 British troops have been killed and more than 2,300 Americans have lost their lives. The war has cost the British taxpayers £3.1 billion, the impact of which on British society is steadily becoming apparent, and the American taxpayers are having to fork out much, much more.

And in his Budget, the Chancellor announced another £1billion for the Armed Forces overseas operations, much of which will inevitably end up in Iraq.

Yet still Bush and Blair strut the stage, apparently unrepentant that it was their lies which caused this terrible mess from which there is no escape other than through withdrawal, leaving Iraq in a much worse position than it was in before the illegal invasion took place.

That either of those men remain in office is a travesty. They should have resigned or been hounded out and put on trial like the tyrant they used false pretences to depose.

Waste of money

Should your child ask your advice on which career path to follow, tell them without hesitation: consultancy. It would appear to be public money for old rope.

Latest example of this is the plan to create a bus "loop" from Market Street, up Sunbridge Road and Godwin Street to John Street and back via Cheapside, with the same thing happening in reverse, to link the top and bottom ends of the town.

This is something, we are told, that "consultants" have recommended. Why? In the unlikely event that no-one employed by the Council could have come up with a similar recommendation, just about any Bradfordian who spends any time in and around the city centre could have suggested what is so blindingly obvious, and for nowt!