Responding to the publication of new figures by Age UK showing the extent of cuts to the social care system, Richard Hawkes, Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, which represents more than 75 charities, said:

“These alarming figures reveal the scale of the crisis facing the social care system.
“Every day, our organisations hear horror stories of people who struggle to get the support they need.
“One in three people have experience of the social care system. Chronic underfunding has left hundreds of thousands of older and disabled people, who need support to do the basics, like getting up or out of the house, cut out of the care system.
“People become isolated, can’t live on their own and slip into crisis.  The impact is now being felt throughout the health service which is being forced to pick up the pieces.This also has a huge impact on carers, who we know are struggling right now.
“Chronic underfunding has seen dramatic year-on-year rationing of support for older and disabled people and their carers, excluding hundreds of thousands of people from the support they desperately need.
“As more and more of us need care, and fewer and fewer of us get it.  Social care is now an election issue and all parties need to commit to serious investment in care, as well as in the health system. As health experts argue, anything else is a false economy.”