Spending on elderly care falling whilst most are unaware of CHC funding

Published: 14/07/2015

Recent research has shown that spending on care in the UK has fallen by a fifth during the last ten years. This comes at a time when the UK population is ageing and the demands on caring services are increasing.

Currently the UK population is over 63 million and of these 10 million people are aged over 65 whilst statisticians predict that there will be a further 5.5 million people in this age group by 2035. Yet despite this increase in the proportion of the population who are older the spending on elderly care is reducing.

Research conducted by the BBC based on official data has shown that £1,188 per person was spent in 2003-4 on people aged over 65. By 2013-14 that spending had dropped to £951 (once inflation was taken into account). Currently 420,000 people are living in residential care and nursing care homes across the UK, whilst 1 million receive help in their own homes and 1.5 million are relying on family and friends for day to day support with their care needs.

Lee Baker, Head of Care Home Fees comments:

“Whilst diminishing spending on elderly care is of great concern there’s another issue which is equally serious. The lack of awareness about the funding available through the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is also very worrying.

“Whilst there is regular media commentary about diminishing government spending on care and the spiralling costs of care there’s very little mention of the availability of CCG funding for those in nursing care because of a primary health need. If anything the statistics show that there are a growing number of people who need help with funding care.”

Content correct at time of publication