Elderly urged to speak out about care fears

Elizabeth Phillips, chief executive of Age UK Warwickshire, was speaking after the county council revealed that the number of over-65s in the county who are eligible to receive free care has dropped from 1,176 in 2009 to a current figure of 720.

Those who part-fund their care has also gone down - from 1,236 to 1,504.

Alongside this, charges for adult non-residential care - not in a care home - having shot up from £9.22 per hour in 2009 to the current charge of £14.24.

Mrs Phillips said: “The local authority is now applying rules very strictly because of financial constraints.

“We have to balance that with the fact that there are an awful lot more people who are living longer and require care.

“If people think they have a problem, they should be phoning the council and talking to someone.

“They will be assessed as to whether they are considered to have substantial or critical needs. If they are not, they are referred to use for support.”

She said the charity, which works with other voluntary sector organisations as well as the council, can offer a range of information, support and advice on how they might resolve those issues.

But she added: “Some people do not contact the local authority or organisations like ours because they just soldier on.

“I am concerned about the people who don’t step forward. With us working with the council, that’s a way to try to support people who might need to help themselves more.

“The message is, don’t sit and suffer. There are different ways to solve problems.”

Mrs Phillips is confident that the voluntary sector can cope with the extra demand changes to the council’s care system is leaving it with, but she said: “Our challenge is, as the years roll forward, with an increasingly aging population, that there will inevitably be more people who are going to require support.”

Anyone with concerns should call the county council on 410410 and ask for an assessment of their care needs, or call Age UK Warwickshire, which is based in Clemens Street, Leamington, on 488100.