Around 1.2 million older people in England are not getting the care they need, according analysis from leading charity Age UK
The number of older people in England losing on much needed care has risen by a staggering 48% since 2010.
Age UK found that since 2010, 383,900 more people aged 65 or over are now living with some level of unmet need, which means nearly 1 in 8 older people are struggling to carry our essential everyday tasks.
Among the 1.2 million, Age UK’s analysis shows that 696,500 older people do not receive any help at all, from either paid carers or family and friends, and that a further 487,400 receive some help but not enough, often because help is only available at particular times of day or their carers are only able to manage some tasks but not others.
The analysis found that shockingly nearly a quarter (291,400) of older people with unmet needs have difficulty with three or more essential tasks, with 52,700 of them receiving no help whatsoever.
Which older people dont get the help they need?
According to the analysis, 535,300 (43.1%) of the 1,242,300 people aged 65 plus who struggle to wash/get in the bath don’t get the care they need.
Of the 472,600 who have difficulty going to the toilet, 222,600 (41.1%) don’t receive the care they need, while of the 718,600 who have trouble getting out of bed on their own, 343,500 (47.8%) do not receive any help.
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said: “It is shameful that more than one in every eight older people in this country are now living in some level of unmet need for care, and we are extremely worried about the quarter of a million older people with multiple unmet care needs, struggling alone: how many of them are constantly in and out of hospital because they are unable to cope at home?
“The sad irony is that it would be far more cost effective, as well as infinitely more humane, to give these older people the care and support they need. All this adds up to a compelling case for giving social care the priority it deserves in the government’s forthcoming Autumn Statement. It is high time the government acts.”
