Elderly people bearing the brunt of cuts to social care, says report
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Ben Chapman
Vulnerable and frail old people are bearing the brunt of cuts in government funded care, according to a new report, which also warned that increasing numbers of care homes would go bust.
The study, from the King's Fund and Nuffield Trust, found the care and support older people received depended on where they lived and how rich they were rather than their level of need.
Reductions in how much local authorities pay care homes - or below inflation increases - means that some are on the brink of collapse, leaving vulnerable people at risk.
Shortages of nurses and care workers, the introduction of the national living wage for staff and increasing reliance on people who can self-pay are also contributing to many care homes being "under unprecedented pressure", the report said.
It warned of future firms going bust, similar to the collapse of Southern Cross in 2011, and others leaving the market.
Over the past five years, local authority spending on care for older and disabled people has fallen by 11% in real terms and the number of people who received state-funded help has fallen by around a quarter.
Figures show the number of older people receiving local authority-funded care fell from more than 1.1 million in 2009 to 853,615 in 2013/14.
Phil Armstrong's wife Evon suffers from a heart and lung condition that confines her to the house and demands 24-hour care. They are among many at risk of losing the help of a carer, who currently visits the house three times a day a two nights a week.
"It takes a lot out of you", said Phil. "You're having to look after somebody who can't do anything for themselves. It would be alright if she could do something for herself but she can't."
The cuts mean more than one million people with care needs like Evon are left fending for themselves.
Holly Holder, from the Nuffield Trust, told ITV News: "What we don't know is what's happening to those people.
"Are they more reliant now on their families and friends to act as carers? Are they paying for somebody to come in and support them, which is very expensive? What we know is happening is that a growing number of people are just going without."
The report warned:
The report also pointed to the rapid growth in delayed discharges from hospital - so-called bed-blocking, which is now at its highest ever level - as a symptom of issues with social care.
Phil McCarvill, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: "Insufficient social care funding is now the most urgent threat to the NHS and the wider health and care system."
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor added: "Our investigations have uncovered that older patients often fall through the cracks between health and social care when discharged from hospital, causing them and their families untold distress and suffering.
"The issues of funding and lack of integration between health and social care need to be addressed so that older people get the support they so desperately need."
A Department of Health spokesman said: