Vulnerable people being denied care, says Age UK

A “catastrophic” situation is developing in England with many vulnerable elderly people being denied care, campaigners say.

An analysis by Age UK found the proportion of over-65s getting help had fallen by a third since 2005-6.

Last year, under 900,000 over-65s got help – one in 10 people in that group – compared with 15% seven years ago.

The review – based on published data – estimated at least 800,000 older people were going without vital help.

This includes council-funded help in the home with daily tasks such as washing, dressing and eating as well as care home places.

Age UK blamed the squeeze on funding, which had forced councils to reduce budgets by 15% in real terms over the past three years to £6.6bn.

The report – the charity’s annual review of the state of social care – said this had resulted in councils increasingly rationing services.

Just 13% of local authorities now provide help to people with moderate needs compared with nearly half in 2005-6.

More money is needed to support people in the community

Caroline Abrahams, director at Age UK, said the figures were “catastrophic”.

“Older people who need help and who are now not getting it are being placed at significant risk and families who care for loved ones are experiencing intolerable strain,” she said.

“If older people do not receive the care they need and as a consequence end up in A&E units and hospital wards, we have simply shifted people around the system at great financial cost and created distress and disruption for older people in the process.

This makes absolutely no moral or economic sense.

“At the moment too many older people who have contributed to society throughout their lives are being left to fend for themselves when they need care and support. We cannot continue to sacrifice their safety, health and dignity.”

This situation cannot persist as it is leads to more “unnecessary hospital admissions” at a much greater financial cost to the government.

It can also  cause long term devastating effects to an elderly persons health and quality of life. The government need to implement a much better strategy as this is certainly not working.

For people with dementia this is an accident waiting to happen.

Instead of progressing to a better quality of service delivery and support through past experience,  we are going backwards. This is an accident waiting to happen.