Outlook buying nursing home care Yet the overwhelming evi. dence suggests that the private sector is which yields profits than converting their properties into luxury flats. It is estimated that as many dential home places have vanished across the country since Labour took office -leaving a gaping hole where mance, and allowing more there should be a service for contrast standards unfavourably with vulnerable older patients. SE This is far from the first Milburn's growing private sector as the solution created by for the Oxfordshire and Richmond London, have under-funding exhausted their budgets for by both Labour and can take no new referrals He is the architect of last until next April - leaving autumn's Concordat with the hospitals to carry the floated the idea that private busy The system, created by the "community delivering day surgery and reforms of the carly 1990s the was a shambles waiting to complaints both from social growing addiction occome a crisis: mHourns solutions has lett services directors and from his ministers unable to do hospitals struggling to dis- anything but charge frail older patients managers as the problems gospital neds. Wilburn's response was He has claimed that the to allocate an extra £300m new wave of hospitals being over three years - to be spent built under the bring an increase of 3,000 acute beds. change of policy first wave of PFI hospitals, most of which led to massive reductions numbers -immediate But so far the evidence is that PUBLICISERVT: