Research Reveals Extent Of Social Care Crisis

Research by Age UK has revealed that more than 64,000 vulnerable older people have died since the Government announced it would publish plans to tackle the growing care crisis.

The Social Care Green Paper has been delayed six times, prompting fury from those struggling to treat an ageing population. According to the research, in the past two years months, the number of over 65s to have died after making a request for support, but before receiving services, stands at 64,367, equal to 77 a day, according to Age UK’s analysis.

The charity’s Caroline Abrahams said: “No one can say how many might have lived had they received the help they were due. But at the very least their final days and hours were less comfortable than they could have been. “Many are now openly questioning whether the document will ever see the light of day.”

Jayne Connery, director of Care Campaign for the Vulnerable, said: “It is no surprise this Government has no end date identified for the production of the green paper.

“This is simply not a priority for ministers. Resolving the social care crisis is not a vote winner and therefore to be ignored until the looming social care disaster has reached critical levels.”

Age UK’s research follows data released earlier this year by NHS Digital which said that 28,170 people had died after making a formal request for social care between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, equating to an average of 77 people a day. Age UK applied this average to the remainder of the 700 days to arrive at its figure.

Over the same period, 626,701 people have had their requests for social care refused by a council, Age UK has estimated using the same methodology.