Care quality depends on money and class
Wednesday 25 July 2012
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EmailA further £1 billion will be slashed from local authority adult social services budgets this year, which means most care homes are considering increasing fees to subsidise council beds or reducing the proportion of beds available for council-funded residents.
The number of older people in England receiving council-funded care has fallen by 11 per cent over the last two years, despite an unprecedented acceleration in the ageing population.
Some 800,000 older people are being left without basic care - lonely, isolated and at risk - while many others lose their homes and savings due to soaring care bills. Thousands of people each year are forced to give up work in order to care for older or disabled relatives.
Even if money can be scraped together, you'd think twice before committing a loved one to the care of unscrupulous private providers. Privatisation has been disastrous and the examples of systemic neglect and abuse are too numerous to list.
Nine out of 10 care providers claim government cuts are forcing them into favouring wealthy pensioners while poorest meanwhile face savage cuts to council-funded beds and a lottery for decent, affordable care.
This system routinely fails those in need of care and countless family carers who are often pushed to breaking point for a state allowance that leaves many impoverished. These people then become the next generation of elderly poor.
According to the rules of this lamentable conservative coalition, they should have "made proper provision for the future." Care provision is however a mere lottery in which chance plays a minor role - money and class determine everything.
Peter Bright
Stoke-On-Trent
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