A growing number of elderly and disabled people are being denied help with washing, dressing and eating as more local authorities ration social care.
A report showed that seven out of ten councils restrict help to very serious cases, leaving others to pay for themselves or rely on family and friends.
The annual report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection found that thousands fewer people qualify for care now compared with three years ago, despite a 3 per cent rise in the number of people over 75. Only 840,000 people received social care services in 2006 compared with 867,000 in 2003. Those receiving funded care at home declined from 479,000 in 1997 to 358,000 last year.
The commission is also worried about the lack of help when an old or disabled person fails to meet the strict eligibility criteria. In many cases families get no help to find private services, or are sent to charities for advice.
“People who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today excluded by the system and left to fend for themselves,” said Dame Denise Platt, chairman of the commission. “The poor experiences of people and their carers trying and failing to get sufficient help contrast starkly with those people who do qualify for council arranged care. People unable to rely on families or friends and unable to pay for care services themselves are simply left to cope with everyday life, while some become virtually trapped in their own home.”
In response to this latest report, the Government announced a review into the eligibility criteria used by local authorities, saying that regional variations were unacceptable. The report found variations in how local authorities interpret “critical” and “substantial” cases, even within the same local authority, where the rules were sometimes applied inconsistently.
West Berkshire, Wokingham and Northumberland have the tightest restrictions, offering help in “life and death” cases only. Many others are planning to follow suit, but are waiting to see the result of a legal challenge against Harrow Council, which attempted to toughen its criteria last year. Sunderland and Calderdale in West Yorkshire are the only councils that still offer help with care in cases judged to have low-level needs.
The latest review brings to five the number of government-backed investigations under way into social care. Others are examining dementia, palliative care and the role of unpaid family carers. Government underfunding is largely to blame for the looming crisis, campaigners say. In the three-year spending round, funding for social care increased by just £190 million to £1.5 billion in 2010. Political pressure is mounting, largely from Britain’s six million carers who look after elderly or disabled relatives.
Sources: Times Online
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