Care requests rejected by over 65% of councils

Two-thirds of older and disabled people in England who turn to their local councils for help with care are turned away, figures show.

Nearly 1.85 million requests for support were made last year, but just over 650,000 people received help. Councils have been warning for a number of years that a shortage of funding is causing problems.

But the Health and Social Care Information Centre figures shows how difficult it is for people to get help.

Only 144,000 of the requests for help resulted in long-term care, which includes places in care homes or help in the home for tasks such as washing and dressing.

Nearly 220,000 got short-term help, such as rehabilitation after discharge from hospital, and another 300,000 got low-level support such as walking aids and telecare.

The rest either received nothing or were advised to seek help from charities, the NHS or from housing services.

Unlike the NHS, social care is not free so everybody will pay something towards the cost of their care with some covering the entire cost.

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