Age UK has today published 'Fixing the foundations' – a report focused on the issues older people with health problems face accessing care in the community.
This report draws on interviews with older people with a range of health problems and caring responsibilities. It also has input from health and care professionals working with older people including a geriatrician, a GP, an occupational therapist and a social worker.
Responding, BGS President Professor Adam Gordon, said:
The BGS welcomes this new report from Age UK, the contents of which, sadly, will not come as a surprise to many of our members. Despite the best efforts of health and care professionals across the country, many older people are simply not able to access the care and support that they need to live well in the community. There are multiple reasons for this including the ongoing crisis in social care and under-investment in the NHS workforce.
While the situation has certainly worsened over the course of the pandemic, these are fundamental systemic issues which are longstanding. Successive governments have promised and failed to deliver social care reform, resulting in people being unable to access the care they need at the right time. This primarily affects older people and their families. But it impacts the wider system too as older people end up being admitted to hospital due to a lack of social care or get marooned there awaiting discharge, creating even greater pressures for the NHS and for a health and care workforce that is already under incredible strain. Services across the country are struggling to recruit and retain staff. Over-stretched staff who are in place are often unable to deliver the high quality of care that they want to provide.
We urge Governments and system leaders across the UK to heed the warnings contained in this report. They must take bold action now to ensure that older people are able to access the care they need, when and where they need it. In particular, the UK and devolved Governments must deliver on their promises of sustainable reform of social care and publication of health and social care workforce strategies. We stand ready at the BGS to support them in doing this."
