Last week major news publications on and off-line called for attention to a series of accusations against the NHS. The Health Service Ombudsman upheld 10 complaints against the NHS for failing to meet the most basic standards of care for older people.

We have all been horrified by the reports from the health sector watchdog. It showed clear evidence that nurses and doctors denied to provide basic medical and caring assistance to elderly people in NHS hospitals. Elderly patients were left hungry, thirsty, unwashed, in soiled clothes, and without adequate pain relief.

It makes me wonder why on Earth anyone could do such things to another human being, especially when you have chosen that career. I always thought that doctors and nurses choose their careers because they care for others and are willing to help people under any circumstance.

What is going on with our doctors and nurses? Are they not being paid enough? Or the system has been saturated with unqualified professionals that have chosen such careers just for the money and benefits?

It can't be a question of money as the New Labour has pumped billions in extra resources into healthcare. Perhaps it could be a matter of size. With 1.3 million employees working for the National Health System whose impersonal structures mitigate against the development of real bonds between individual staff and patients.

Whatever the problem is it is time for a change and we can't let our loved ones be treated this way. We must not forget that we all get older and if we don't call for change now we could be the ones sitting in a lonely hospital bed hungry and soaked in our own urine.