Overly Long Waits For Social Care, Age UK Warns

New research from charity Age UK has found that older people are often waiting too long for social care, as a result of shortfalls in both funding and members of staff.

Analysis by the organisation found that 28,890 people died between 2021 and 2022 without receiving the care and support they were waiting for, the equivalent to 79 deaths a day. 

This has been put down to a lack of public money allowing local authorities to assess older people more efficiently, as well as there not being enough care workers to address the needs of a growing older population.

Further research from the charity shows that the number of vacant posts in the home care sector rose by 20,000 between 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, with a vacancy rate of 14 per cent across the country as a whole.

In England, 28 per cent of older people who submitted a request for a social care assessment had to wait six months or more to get one. Delayed assessments have also helped result in around 2.6 million people in England over the age of 50 living with some unmet care need, with families and unpaid carers doing what they can to fill the gap.

Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “There isn’t enough social care to go round and so some older people are waiting endlessly for help they badly need. It is heartbreaking that in the latest figures, more than 500 older people a week are going to their graves without ever receiving the care and support to which they were entitled.”

If you are currently looking for someone to provide you with homecare support so you can continue living independently for as long as possible, get in touch with the team here at Caremark Barnet to see how we can help.