Cuts to elderly care fuelling NHS crisis
It was reported in The Times last week that the number of frail, elderly people receiving government-funded care has plummeted in the past three years. As a result, more strain has been placed on NHS hospitals. Age UK found that the number of elderly people who receive funded care has fallen by 56% since 2012. During this time the over-65 population has risen by one million.
This collapse in funded care has contributed to the crisis in the NHS, with more elderly people arriving at A&E and hospitals full of older patients who cannot be discharged because there is nowhere appropriate for them to go.
The British Medical Association chairman Dr Mark Porter was quoted as saying ‘Problems at the A&E front door are linked to delays at the back door, as a shortage of social care beds creates exit blocks in hospitals’.
According to Age UK, the number of people receiving meals-on-wheels is also down by 63% and spending on daycare centres has been cut by a third.
Councils decide who is eligible for funded social care but following the massive central government cuts, most can only help those with the greatest need.
The Tory/Lib Dem government make out that these cuts are an inevitable part of austerity measures. The truth is that they have made a choice about their priorities. Whilst cutting funding for social care they have given a tax cut to those on the highest incomes and have refused to properly tax the big banks and large corporations.
A Labour government would make different choices and would put money back where it is most needed, making sure that social care for the elderly is properly funded and co-ordinated.
It was reported in The Times last week that the number of frail, elderly people receiving government-funded care has plummeted in the past three years. As a result, more strain has been placed on NHS hospitals. Age UK found that the number of elderly people who receive funded care has fallen by 56% since 2012. During this time the over-65 population has risen by one million.
This collapse in funded care has contributed to the crisis in the NHS, with more elderly people arriving at A&E and hospitals full of older patients who cannot be discharged because there is nowhere appropriate for them to go.
The British Medical Association chairman Dr Mark Porter was quoted as saying ‘Problems at the A&E front door are linked to delays at the back door, as a shortage of social care beds creates exit blocks in hospitals’.
According to Age UK, the number of people receiving meals-on-wheels is also down by 63% and spending on daycare centres has been cut by a third.
Councils decide who is eligible for funded social care but following the massive central government cuts, most can only help those with the greatest need.
The Tory/Lib Dem government make out that these cuts are an inevitable part of austerity measures. The truth is that they have made a choice about their priorities. Whilst cutting funding for social care they have given a tax cut to those on the highest incomes and have refused to properly tax the big banks and large corporations.
A Labour government would make different choices and would put money back where it is most needed, making sure that social care for the elderly is properly funded and co-ordinated.