Independent readers responding to calls for social-care reform described the emotional, financial and physical toll of caring for relatives. Several questioned whether prolonged medical intervention is improving people’s final years or extending suffering, while others stressed the need for better support for unpaid carers and care workers.

Accounts included a husband whose wife has spent more than 1,500 days in care and hospital with severe decline, despite NHS funding, and a reader who has cared for their mother since age 14. Contributors also reported poor-quality, part-funded care, difficult zero-hours work and low pay, although some praised compassionate residential-home staff caring for people with dementia.