MORE than 50,000 OAPs have died while waiting for a move into a care home or to get live-in help since the Government first promised to publish plans to overhaul the social care system nearly two years ago, stats show.
Charity Age UK said its shocking findings expose the human cost of the Government’s repeated delays over publishing its social care green paper on how Britain’s rapidly ageing population will be looked after in the future.
Chancellor Philip Hammond first promised a radical blueprint for the future of social care 700 days ago – before the last General Election but it has been repeatedly kicked into the long grass. It still hasn’t been produced despite promises to publish it by the end of last year.
Since then elderly people waiting either to be moved into a care home or for live-in care have died at a rate of 77 per day – a total of 54,000.
Over the same period more than 600,000 elderly people have had their request for social care turned down by their council.
And shockingly some 7,240 people have been forced to run down all their savings to pay for care bills – leaving them reliant on the state to fund their care in the future and with nothing to leave for loved ones after their death.
Age UK found 1.2million elderly people have developed an “unmet need” – such as being able to wash or dress – since the Government first promised the social care reforms.
Cash for care
The alarming figures came as the Government confirmed an additional £650million social care cash injection to cash-strapped councils. And Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire also announced town halls will be allowed to hike council tax bills by up to five per cent from April to help pay for soaring social care bills.
Meanwhile a damning report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee last night accused ministers of being “in denial” over the “perilous” state of local government finances in England.
The MPs said councils across the country were under “enormous pressure” just to maintain essential services such as adult and children’s social care. And their report slammed the Government for pursuing “short-term fixes” instead of a clear plan to put them on a sustainable financial footing.
Age UK boss Caroline Abrahams last night blasted the Government for dithering over its social care reforms and said at the very least the delay in publishing its social care green paper had cost thousands of elderly people a better quality end to their lives.
She said: “These tragic new figures demonstrate just how many older people are now suffering from the Government’s failure to act decisively on social care. No one can say whether some of those who have died might have lived longer had they received care, but at the very least their final weeks and months might have been more comfortable and their families’ lives made easier, had they been given more support.
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“Some policymakers talk about social care as though it was some kind of ‘nice to have’ discretionary purchase, but for older people whose health is in decline and who may be approaching the end of their lives it is an absolutely vital public service, and sustaining it and ensuring it is of good quality ought to be a top Government priority. However, the fact we have waited so long for the Green Paper and that its publication has been delayed five times calls this seriously into question.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are committed to ensuring everyone has access to the care and support they need and have provided local authorities with access to up to £3.6billion more dedicated funding for adult social care this year and up to £3.9billion for next year to help meet people’s needs.
“We are determined to make social care sustainable for the future and will publish our proposals in a green paper shortly.”
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