Elderly Not Cared For Enough According to UK Watchdog

A leading UK watchdog has stated that the government does not care enough about the elderly and criticised services in the UK.

Andrea Sutcliffe, from the Care Quality Commission stated that although some health care standards and care home standards were exceptional, the standard across the country varied too much. The comments came after just under 10% of care homes in England were found to struggle with the most basic care standards for the elderly.

Social Care Standards Falling

Damning statistics have shown that the number of over 65s receiving state-funded social care services has fallen by 294,080 since 2009-10.

Andrea Sutcliffe said: "People who are living with dementia, who are isolated and lonely, who have a physical disability which may restrict their connection with the outside world, they are potentially vulnerable, too.

"We are all responsible. I don’t think we treat older people well enough. We don’t care enough. Some of us do, but more of us need to."

Care "Too Variable" 

Mrs Sutcliffe also condemned the overall approach to dealing with the elderly and the falling standards across the UK. She said: "There are some fantastic adult social care services, some brilliant care homes with dedicated staff, but it is too variable.
.
"We have some real challenges around staffing, around having sufficient numbers of capable and confident staff who can provide the care that is required. It is actually a really tough job.

“People have to be skilled. We are particularly seeing a challenge in nursing homes in getting nurses.

She added: “We have got a very high level of turnover, a high level of vacancies, and the impact of that on the quality of care that’s being provided is very direct."

Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, condemned the findings which showed that just under 300,000 fewer older people were receiving care in 2014 than in four years previously.

Contact Us

If you require any legal advice or legal representation regarding the elderly, contact our team of expert solicitors using our online contact form or call us on 0141 530 7096