Charity questions local authority care ratings

Age Concern and Help the Aged has challenged the ‘excellent’ ratings awarded to many local authorities for the standard of social care that they provide to people at home. The charity asserts that despite receiving three star ratings, many councils are failing to provide enough help to vulnerable elderly people with basic tasks such as getting out of bed and personal hygiene. Its own analysis of the councils rated as ‘excellent’ by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (now the Care Quality Commission) showed that 35 out of 56 councils provide this kind of care only to people with ‘critical or substantial’ needs. Many people who are disabled or housebound are not getting enough help from their local authority because their needs have been classified as ‘low’ or ‘moderate’ – so they do not qualify for additional care funding. Age Concern and Help the Aged director Michelle Mitchell comments: ‘The reality is that even the best local councils are leaving many older people to struggle without the care they need, slowly stripping away their dignity and independence. The call for action from older campaigners and their families is loud, clear and unified. It’s time for action, not endless consultation and discussion. Politicians cannot duck the care crisis any longer.’ Ms Mitchell went on to say that £1-2 billion of extra funding is needed to provide an adequate level of social care to those that need it and called for the issue to be dealt with in the forthcoming Government Green Paper on the future of adult social care funding in England.