01 February 2008
The government has ordered a review of the eligibility criteria for adult social care services, after a report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection warned that hundreds of thousands of elderly people were not receiving the care they needed.
The review will feed into a green paper on long-term funding of social care, expected later this year, which will consider the respective roles of the individual, the family and the state.
In its report, The state of social care in England 2006/07, published on January 29, the CSCI notes that council care services had improved for the fifth successive year.
But it highlighted the plight of people who have fallen outside the system as councils have tightened their eligibility criteria in response to financial pressure.
The number of elderly people using social care services fell from 867,000 in 2003 to 840,000 in 2006, despite an almost 3% increase in the population aged 75 or over, it says. The number of households receiving home care dropped by 25% between 1997 and 2006.
The CSCI also attempted to quantify the number of elderly people slipping through the social care net. It estimated that 6,000 elderly people with high support needs – and another 275,000 with less intensive needs – were receiving neither social care services nor informal support. Another 450,000 suffered a 'shortfall' of support.
CSCI chair Dame Denise Platt said: 'People who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today excluded and left to fend for themselves.' There was a 'sharp divide' between those receiving services and those who did not. 'There is really an urgent need to try to create a fair and equitable social care system that is sustainable and affordable.'
Social care minister Ivan Lewis responded by announcing the national review of eligibility criteria and their local application, saying the existing system 'runs the risk of damaging our commitment to support older and disabled people to live independently'.
But the Local Government Association warned that more money was needed. David Rogers, chair of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, said: 'The bottom line is that if budgets aren't given a boost, councils will only be able to provide support to the people with the most severe needs by 2009.'
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