‘I’ve been wearing the same pyjamas all year’: Plight of care home residents laid bare in damning report

More than 80 charities urge Jeremy Hunt to fix 'broken' adult social care system after report shows thousands of disabled people struggling without basic care and support as NHS 'picks up the bill'

(Alamy)

The plight of disabled and elderly people has been laid bare in a damning report exposing that care home residents have been left without meals and unwashed for months on end.

In an open letter seen excluisvely by The Independent, more than 80 charities urge Jeremy Hunt to “act now” after the findings revealed one in five care residents had gone without meals and a quarter have gone without basic needs such as washing, getting dressed and going to the toilet.

The survey, carried out by the Care Support Alliance (CSA) with responses from 4,000 adults who have experience of adult social care in England, also found that one in four people needed hospital treated, while one in eight had been delayed leaving hospital because of not being able to get the care they need.

Sixteen per cent of cared-for respondents had had their care packages reduced despite their needs having increased or remained the same, while four in 10 said they felt lonely or isolated.

One respondent said they had not been washed for more than two months and that their pyjamas had not been changed this year. This left them feeling that their care workers don’t have time for cleaning, washing or changing them.

“I haven’t been washed for over two months. My bedroom floor has only been vacuumed once in three years,” said the care home resident. “My sheets have not been changed in about six months, and my pyjamas haven’t been changed this year. My care workers don’t have time for cleaning, washing or changing me.”

Another told researchers they felt they had become a “burden” to their family.

Meanwhile, a carer who responded to the survey said that for a long time they were not aware that they were entitled to any help, adding: “It’s a lottery as to whether social services give you the information you need about what you are entitled to as a carer.”

A cohort of charities, including Age UK and Care England, are now urging the health and social care secretary that, in light of the “appalling failings" exposed in the report, he must use the upcoming social care green paper as his “chance to change things” and fix a “broken system”.

“It is beyond dispute that our adult social care system is now broken and fundamentally unfit for purpose. Today, over a million older and disabled people are struggling every day without the basic care and support they require,” the letter states. “Families and friends are being pushed to breaking point as they are having to step in when care is desperately needed but is not being provided.”

In order to “change things”, it says the government must immediately fill the current £2.5bn funding gap and make the case for a long-term funding settlement.

The findings and the letter come after MPs urged the government to announce and implement a credible solution to address the long-term underfunding of adult social care by the end of 2018, warning that the upcoming green paper risked underestimating the challenges in resolving the crisis.

In a report released earlier this week, the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found little evidence that the existing, lightly regulated private care market was helping to deliver care in an affordable manner.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said: “The experiences of thousands of people in this survey are damning evidence that that our adult social care system is broken and unfit for purpose.

“It is especially worrying to have heard stories from people whose care has been cut, even though their needs have either stayed the same or got worse. And the reality is that care cuts aren’t saving the Government money, the NHS is picking up the bill as people are pushed into ill health and crisis because of a lack of basic help.

“The government must provide funding now, as well as focus on future reforms, as essential steps towards getting our care system back on track.”

Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society and co-chair of the CSA, said inadequate care was now a “common problem across the country”, emphasising that it was “those who need care and their families who are paying the highest price”.

“The stories of frustration and heartache we heard are all too common. Regardless of someone’s condition or age people should be getting care so they can live safely and with dignity,” he added.

The government has been approached for comment.