Austerity is undermining standards of home care for older people

A survey by Which has exposed serious deficiencies in the quality of home care services provided to older people. It reports that ‘agency staff, working through council contracts, were often in such a hurry to complete their tasks within allotted 15-minute “units” that they forgot even basic tasks’http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/9146796/Elderly-left-sitting-in-the-dark-by-stressed-to-tears-carers.html

David Rogers, chair of the Local Government Association's wellbeing board, identified cuts and under-funding as the root cause of this national scandal: "This research highlights the very real crisis this country is facing in providing care for the elderly and vulnerable. We know there isn't enough money in the system and without fundamental reform the situation is only going to get worse and stories like this will sadly become increasingly common.

"Local authorities are doing all they can to find solutions that don't impact on the services they can deliver to elderly and vulnerable residents and despite a 28 per cent funding cut from Government, spending on adult services this year is expected to fall by just 2.5 per cent, the lowest for any service area.”