T H E P U B L I C AT I O N F O R N U R S I N G A N D R E S I D E N T I A L C A R E H O M E S Issue 136
W W W. T H E C A R E R U K . C O M
THECARERUK
THECARERUK
THECARER_UK
Older People’s Preventive Care “Crucial” in Reducing Hospital Admissions
Providing better care for the UK’s elderly population at home could prevent another crisis in the NHS next winter, according to a report. The review also claims too many older people are 'badly let down' and trapped in hospital because the services they need to remain independent are 'clunky and under-resourced'. The new in-depth report from the Charity Age UK, ‘Fixing the Foundations’, reveals how our under-funded and overstretched NHS and social care system is struggling and sometimes failing to cope with the needs of older people. Longstanding problems, predating the pandemic but exacerbated by it too, are piling pressure on families and carers and leaving the NHS in constant crisis
mode, contributing massively to ambulances being stacked up outside hospital emergency departments at the moment, and long waits for people of all ages to access urgent care. • Half (49%) of all people arriving in A&E by ambulance are over 65 and a third (35%) over 75. • The proportion of older people feeling supported to manage their health condition has fallen by a fifth (almost 20%) in relative terms since 2016/17. • One in five (21%) over 80s have some unmet need for social care.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3...)