“Why call it care, when nobody cares?”

The social care system has been in crisis for too long and it is only getting worse, with too many people having unmet needs and not getting the help and support they desperately need. Due to underfunding at a national level and resultant cutbacks from local authorities services can no longer cope with the growing demand for social care. A bold and ambitious solution is needed to tackle the social care crisis.

Age UK welcomes the promised Social Care Green Paper announced in November 2017, but notes that this is the latest in a long series of commissions and reports: this time it must deliver for older people, who need change NOW.

The Green Paper is a chance to address the fundamental failures that exist within our social care system and to think about how we support people as they age. A meaningful consultation with a broad scope could lead to a sustainable solution that addresses unmet needs and enables vulnerable older people to live their later lives with the dignity they deserve. It must result in an improved system.

We set out by asking the question, ‘what do older people and their families think are the problems in the social care system and how can the Government fi nd a solution?’ We went to 13 different locations across England to hold ‘listening events’ with older people and their families to ask them these questions. The participants were older people and their unpaid carers who had used Age UK services locally and the locations were diverse and included poorer and better off areas, rural and urban, North and South. Interestingly, although these places were varied we heard very similar views and experiences in each place.

In all we spoke to 127 people in depth about the social care system, its successes, failures and how it could be improved. We also invited their local MPs along to hear directly from their constituents about how they experience the system and what they think some of the solutions could be.

This is what older people and their families said they think about the care crisis and how a solution can be found.