The pressure to save cash in one part of our care services is predictably starting to have an impact on another.

As the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust cuts its spending, it appears social services are taking up some of the slack.

The simple example which was quoted by the county council from the very first moment cuts were mooted is beds.

If a hospital strives to get a patient out of one of its beds a little bit quicker to improve efficiency and hit targets, the person still has to go somewhere.

Human beings don't simply cure themselves faster when there is cash to be saved.

The social care bill is already £250,000 over budget, and the financial year only started in April.

This will alarm council taxpayers - as will the thought that social services bosses, whatever their better instincts, now have a ready-made excuse for spiralling spending.