The Family and Childcare Trust’s second annual Older People’s Care Survey – funded by Legal & General – finds that over 4.2 million people aged 75 and over in the UK live in areas that do not have enough care to meet demand. Just one in four local areas in the UK report having enough older people’s care and 38 per cent of local areas say this situation will worsen next year. 

The most severe shortages continue to be felt by the most vulnerable older people. While 81 per cent of respondents in the UK said they had enough availability for care home places, that figure falls to 46 per cent for home care and 37 per cent for nursing homes with specialist dementia support. The survey also found that local authorities pay an average of £556 per week per person, or almost £29,000 per year, for residential care.