In Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population, the health think-tank suggested that services needed to be co-ordinated around individual needs rather than single diseases. They should also prioritise prevention and support for independent living.
David Oliver, visiting fellow at the King’s Fund, said: ‘The health and care systems have a long way to go to adapt to the twin challenges of an ageing population and tighter funding. Many local service leaders are transforming services for older people, but we urgently need to see their experiences spread more widely.
‘But marginal change will not be enough; transformation is needed at scale and at pace.’
Among the report’s recommendations are: improved collaboration between the NHS and social care to ensure patients leave hospital promptly and are supported as they settle back into the community; rapid access to urgent care at times of crisis; and services that enable older people with stable long-term conditions to live well and without unnecessary complications.
It offers a range of practical advice and case studies, which highlight real examples of local innovation.
Meanwhile, Age UK has warned of a ‘disastrous’ care crisis.
In a report the charity described as ‘damning’, it said spending on social care services for older people in England had dropped by £1.2bn (15.4%) since 2010, despite rising demand. The transfer of £438m in NHS funds to local authorities still leaves a shortfall of £769m.
As a consequence, access to social care has become more restricted with 87% of councils now only provided care services for those people deemed to have ‘substantial’ needs.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘The figures we have uncovered in this report are catastrophic. Older people who need help and who are now not getting it are being placed at significant risk and families who care for loved ones are experiencing intolerable strain.
‘If older people do not receive the care they need and as a consequence end up in A&E units and hospital wards, we have simply shifted people around the system at great financial cost and created distress and disruption for older people in the process. This makes absolutely no moral or economic sense.’
Age UK’s call came as the Care Bill entered its final Report stages in Parliament. While the principles of the Bill were sound, the charity said it risked being undermined by ‘wholly inadequate funding’.
