THE seemingly inexorable rise in hospital admissions should alarm us all.

Nationally, in the last decade, they have risen by almost 30 per cent despite the population rising by only eight per cent.

Yes, the so called ‘baby boomers’ - those aged 65 to 69 - make up the largest proportion of hospital inpatients, but that clearly isn’t the only issue.

The figures show that while admissions for patients aged under 44 rose by less than nine per cent, they soared by almost 44 per cent for the over 45s.

Surely, urgent research is now needed to find out why such a number of relatively young people appear to be in such poor health that they need hospital stays, as a growing ageing population means the problem will only get worse.

To their credit, health chiefs in Bradford are trying to address the issue by introducing various schemes in an effort to avoid admissions wherever possible, including ideas such as virtual wards which allow people to be treated at home.

But there is clearly still much scope for better public health, GP access and community care.

We all know the huge pressures the NHS is under and we all, therefore, have a personal responsibility to ensure that the free healthcare system we should be so proud of, and which is envied around the world, continues.

The consequences of it becoming unaffordable for any government are unthinkable.

As any doctor will tell you, prevention is always better than cure.