November 2016
Featured in this insight: Central government & non-department public bodies, Local & regional government, Medical & healthcare
Survey finds local councils do not have the facilities for sufficient elderly care: According to new research findings, approximately 80 per cent of local authorities do not have sufficient care facilities to meet the needs of elderly people in their area.
Conducted by the Family and Childcare Trust, the survey also discovered that 48 per cent of local councils have enough availability for home care, whereas a further 44 per cent do not have enough extra care home places.
Of the local authorities in the survey, just 32 per cent said that they had enough nursing homes in their area with specialist dementia support.
The survey - which was entitled the Older People’s Care Survey – further uncovered that there is a distinct lack of information for families who are searching for their own care, with approximately 75 per cent local authorities admitting that they are not able to provide data on the rates that self-funders pay.
Head of Research at the Family and Childcare Trust, Claire Harding, said that it simply is not acceptable that vulnerable people are not able to find the care that they require. She also said that the Family and Childcare Trust urge the Government to ensure that there is the right amount of care for everyone who needs it.
She further added that in order to ensure enough care is provided, they need hard data which highlights where there are gaps in care, a funding system that provides the money needed to provide care, and also coherent information for families.
The survey findings also revealed that the average annual rate for one local authority funded residential care place in the United Kingdom amounts to £27,113.
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