Better care for the elderly would free up 855,000 slots in A&E each year, damning report reveals

Nearly a million emergency hospitalizations could be avoided each year if older people received better care at home, a damning report finds.

The health and care system is failing to meet the needs of an aging population, with a “hidden crisis unfolding behind closed doors,” Age UK warned.

Poor community service is causing health problems to go unnoticed until they grow into major problems, the charity added.

Many admissions occur within 30 days of being previously discharged, with patients not receiving proper preventive care in the community.

Retirees are also at risk of losing their mental acuity and mobility if they become stuck in wards for long periods awaiting discharge.

The Age UK review found that 36,000 older people have received less long-term care from their local government since 2017/18, as community nursing posts have been cut.

It means some 1.6 million people aged 65 and over have unmet care and support needs, robbing them of their independence and making it difficult to eat, wash or dress.

In addition, 45 percent are concerned about their ability to contact their GP if they become ill, the report said.

Age UK wants the country to move from its ‘over-reliance’ on hospitals to a ‘home first’ principle, with better access to physiotherapists, doctors and nurses through primary care. It also calls for a ‘laser focus’ on prevention and early intervention to enable older people to stay fit and healthy at home for longer.

According to the report, there were 4.8 million emergency room visits by the elderly in 2021/22, with the rate increasing by 40 percent among those over 80 between 2012/13 and 2021/22. In 2019 alone, some 855,000 such admissions could have been prevented with the right care at the right time, the latest figures show.

Once admitted, older people stay in hospital longer and are more likely to be discharged later than younger patients.

Between 13,000 and 14,000 patients deemed medically fit for discharge ended up in hospital on any given day last winter, up from 4,500 in the same period in 2018/19.

Once discharged, one in six patients over the age of 75 enters a ‘terrible vicious cycle’ and is readmitted within 30 days, according to Age UK.

It follows a 24 percent reduction in the number of social care nursing posts between 2015 and 2020 and a 12 percent decline in the number of district nurses.

Ruthe Isden, program director for health advocacy at Age UK, said there is a crisis in the NHS and a ‘hidden crisis happening behind closed doors’.

“It’s older people who are suffering, who aren’t getting the help they need,” she added. “Their health is deteriorating, they experience these avoidable crises — falls, urinary tract infections — that take them to the hospital and turn their lives upside down.”

However, Age UK said there were ‘glitters of hope’ in parts of the country taking action to boost community care (stock image)

However, Age UK said there were ‘glitters of hope’ in parts of the country taking action to boost community care. It pointed to the development of fall prevention services, hospital home services, virtual wards and integrated vulnerability services, although there is a zip code lottery in access.

There are 10.5 million people aged 65 and over in England, with 74 per cent living with at least one long-term condition, rising to 86 per cent among the over 85s. Some have had a harder time since the pandemic due to increased isolation, the report said.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director of Age UK, called for a Social Care Workforce Plan, like the one recently published for the NHS, outlining how the government intends to recruit and retain more staff.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘We are spending up to £700m over the next two years on adult social care reform, including £250m for the working population.

“We are also investing a record £1.6bn over the same period to support timely and safe discharge from hospitals to the community. And last year we set up new integrated care systems that help connect health and care.

‘They are already making a difference by bringing together local NHS organizations with social care and the voluntary sector to benefit patients.’