A new report, conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), has warned that in order to meet the challenges of austerity, more rationing of care and charging for services may be needed.

According to the IFS, reforms are needed due to the fact that the care system is set to face its biggest challenge since the early 1950s, which is when prescription fees were first introduced.

The organisation said that a rise in taxation may be needed, too.

Carl Emmerson, the co-author of the report, argued that "serious consideration" should be given to all options and that at this stage, nothing can be ruled out.

"The last decade saw the NHS receive large increases in its funding, but the outlook for the 2010s is in sharp contrast to this," he said.

Nick Seddon, who works for think-tank Reform, endorsed the idea of introducing charges to make the system more viable in the long-term.

He pointed to international evidence suggesting that introducing charges for certain services have proven to be an extremely effective measure.

However, health spending would need to fall in real terms, if the proposed solutions transpire to be "too difficult politically or too damaging to vulnerable groups", explained Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Nuffield Trust.

In June, a report produced by Age UK stressed the inefficiencies in the social care system and, therefore, the need for urgent reforms.

According to the study, more than £100 million that was intended to improve care was instead used to support the failing system.

"It does not sadly come as much surprise to hear that the NHS money supposed to be used to bridge the often wide gap between health care and social care provision, has instead to be used to prop up a crumbling system," remarked Michelle Mitchell, director of Age UK.