A postcode lottery in social care means thousands of severely disabled elderly people miss out on help in the home, according to a new report.
The Government launched an urgent inquiry into eligibility rules after the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) uncovered widespread variations across the country between different levels of support offered by councils. But opposition politicians and charities for the elderly condemned the Government for taking action only after the report was published. Just 358,000 households received home care in 2006 compared with 479,000 a decade earlier, while nearly three quarters of local authorities now refuse help to anyone whose needs are not considered "substantial" or "critical". Most of those with "moderate" needs, who can not carry out routine daily tasks such as getting out of bed, bathing and doing the washing up are excluded, along with 275,000 pensioners with less intensive requirements - such as needing help to go to the shop. Another 6,000 elderly people with "high support needs", which means they can not bathe or eat without assistance, receive no services and no informal care. Altogether, the CSCI estimates 450,000 older people rely on friends and family to get by, even though they have been assessed as needing more help. The inquiry will only deal with differences across the country in levels of care provision and not the wider problem of elderly people forced to spend their savings, or even sell their homes, to pay for the care they need in their old age. Source: Telegraph.co.uk |
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