WORCESTERSHIRE Health Authority and Worcestershire County Council claim they're on the verge of the biggest shake-up of social services since the foundation of the welfare state.

Oh, pull the other one. In political circles, the amount of flannel put out by the bigwigs is always in inverse proportion to the amount of real change created by any new policy.

In fact, discussion of the most serious and far-reaching ways of rearranging people's lives tends to be kept circumspect in case it generates controversy.

The Worcestershire public should ignore the palaver about the role of primary care trusts, and keep an eye instead on what happens at hospitals and residential homes during the next couple of years.