Elderly Britons face a growing scramble for a care home place with up to 170 pensioners per bed in some areas, an alarming study reveals.
New analysis by the House of Commons Library shows the supply of care home places has failed to keep pace with the growing and ageing population.
The number of OAPs per care home has soared 14 per cent from 761 in 2018 to 867 this year, while the number per bed has increased 6 per cent from 25 to 27.
However, a ‘stark postcode lottery’ means rates per bed vary locally from 11.64 in Southport to 169.7 in the Cities of London and Westminster - a 15-fold difference.
Remarkably, the number of pensioners per bed has more than doubled in some constituencies over the past six years.
Pensioners are facing a growing scramble for places in care homes as capacity has failed to keep place with a growing and ageing population (file photo)
The number of OAPs per bed varies locally from 11.64 in Southport to 169.7 in the Cities of London and Westminster (file photo)
Health leaders warn the shortfall is fuelling bed-blocking in hospitals, slowing the speed at which they can admit new patients from A&E and cut waiting lists.
NHS England said over 12,000 hospital beds a day are filled with patients who doctors consider medically fit for discharge but who are unable to leave.
The Liberal Democrats, who commissioned the research, say the findings lay bare a ‘stark postcode lottery’ and show that the previous Conservative government ‘abandoned the elderly and their loved ones’.
The Party has called for cross-party talks on social care in order to rescue the future of care.
Hornsey and Wood Green has seen a 130 per cent increase in the number of over 65s per care home bed, from 45 to 103, in Wythenshawe and Sale East it rose by nearly 70 per cent and in Leeds North East by 62 per cent.
The number of pensioners per bed has now reached over 150 in some areas.
In Cities of London and Westminster it stands at 170, Orpington 167, and in Hackney South and Shoreditch 147.
In total, 394 of the 536 constituencies in England and Wales have seen a rise in the number of pensioners per care home bed in recent years.
Some 88 per cent of constituencies saw a rise in the number of over 65s per care home.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: ‘These figures lay bare a stark postcode lottery that is leaving pensioners and their loved ones deeply worried about the quality of care they will be able to receive, if they can find any at all.
‘The blame for this crisis lies squarely with the previous Conservative government who abandoned the elderly and their loved ones, refusing to take the action required to rescue our care sector and give pensioners the dignity they deserve in their later years.
‘Rescuing the NHS and care is the greatest challenge facing this country, so we urgently need cross-party talks to make sure everyone gets the care they deserve.’
Some 88 per cent of constituencies saw a rise in the number of over 65s per care home (file photo)
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of trade body Care England, said: ‘With an ageing population and an increase in the numbers of people living with Dementia, there will be a need for more care home places, but also for more community care and support.
‘There is an urgent need for the Government to have a planned National approach to ensuring that there are enough services to meet the current and future needs.’
Rory Deighton, a director a the NHS Confederation, said: ‘These figures are yet more evidence of the chronic pressure that the social care sector is facing.
‘The increase in pensioners per care home is staggering and demonstrates the widening gap between demand and capacity across the country.
‘Like social care, the NHS is also trying to manage rising demand from an older population with more complex health conditions.
‘We have been calling for more support for social care, in particular an equivalent workforce plan to boost staffing levels and capacity.
‘With winter on the horizon we have also called for some immediate funding to support the health and care sectors.
‘Some of this must be invested into increasing social and community care capacity.
‘The health and social care sectors are inextricably linked, with bottlenecks on one side leading to delays on the other side.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the crisis laid bare the postcode lottery in care home capacity
‘Our members report that the lack of capacity in community and social care is a key factor in why so many patients are left stuck in hospital despite being medically fit enough to leave.
‘This in turn can spark long waits in A&Es and handover delays at the front doors of hospitals.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Social care is broken, and it is unacceptable that so many people are being left without the care they need.
‘We are committed to building a National Care Service, underpinned by national standards and delivered locally, to ensure that everyone can get the care they need.’