Those people – and they are a huge part of the population – who care for family members who are old, infirm or seriously ill rightly expect that they will be given as much help as possible.

Many organisations and agencies provide support for carers, which is good in many ways because it lessens the likelihood of those who need assistance falling through the social care net.

But the flipside of this spreading of responsibility is that delays can occur when no single agency or organisation takes full responsibility for a particular case.

This seems to be the problem facing Maralyn Adey whose 27-year-old son Kristian has Down’s Syndrome as well as heart and lung defects. A review of Kristian’s case has been jointly carried out by Bradford Social Services and Bradford and Airedale NHS’s Continuing Health Care Team.

The review agrees that Kristian needs more one-to-one support than he is currently getting following life-saving surgery on a brain abscess last year which requires him to make regular use of an oxygen supply.

The problem is that although everyone agrees Kristian needs more care, no-one can agree on who should pay for it.

Families who become carers are taking a weight off the care and health systems and absorbing the pressures into their own lives. It is a very stressful time and can become a full-time, all-consuming job to look after a seriously ill family member – with none of the pay and benefits of actually working.

The agencies involved need to end the uncertainty adding stress to Kristian’s family and provide the support he desperately needs without further delay.