Care of elderly ‘shameful’, say charities

The way older people are being cared for in England is ‘shameful’ and ‘scandalous’, Age UK and the Alzheimer's Society have said.

The care charities, jointly publishing fresh evidence on the state of the care sector, criticised both the quality of care and the way it was rationed.

It claims that the number of older people in England who don’t get the social care they need has soared to a new high of 1.2 million – a rise of 48 per cent since 2010.

Furthermore, 383,900 more people aged 65 or over are now living with some level of unmet need since 2010, meaning that nearly one in eight older people are struggling without the help they need to carry out essential everyday tasks.

Analysis also showed that councils agreed to help under half the 1.3 million people who approached them for care last year, with the BBC identifying 11 councils that rejected more than 75 per cent of applications.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “It is shameful that more than one in every eight older people in this country are now living with some level of unmet need for care, and we are extremely worried about the quarter of a million older people with multiple unmet care needs, struggling alone: how many of them are constantly in and out of hospital because they are unable to cope at home?

“The sad irony is that it would be far more cost effective, as well as infinitely more humane, to give these older people the care and support they need. All this adds up to a compelling case for giving social care the priority it deserves in the government’s forthcoming Autumn Statement. It is high time the government acts.”

Jeremy Hughes, Alzheimer's Society chief executive, added: “From the scandals we have exposed, it is clear home care workers are not fairly or adequately equipped with the skills they need to support vulnerable people. There simply is not enough money invested in the social care."