A CHARITY has warned the "safety net" for elderly people living at home is failing and in urgent need of repair.

Age UK have estimated almost half a million people over 65 in England are living with three or more significant health conditions, with many of these needing help with essential daily care needs such as getting out of bed and going to the toilet.

Barrow Borough Council leader Dave Pidduck said cases of elderly people living alone were of great concern.

He said: "Sometimes when we have got elderly people living in their own homes, it gets to the point where they cannot afford the necessary repairs to make it water tight or wind tight, and that causes its own problems where they then become ill and end up in hospital.

"If we were able to get some funding, one of the things we could look at would be working with organisations like Age UK to find people in those situations and try to do something to help keep them in their own home, rather than ending up in hospital.

"As well as that, the loneliness of it is a concern, especially if elderly people are feeling cut off, and we have to make sure there are organisations out there that can provide the help and support people need."

The charity claim more than 3.6 million people over 65 across the UK live alone, but urge services to strengthen support networks.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: "The safety net for older people living at home has worn dangerously thin after years of underfunding and an absence of workforce planning across both health and care.

"This is why the numbers of older people whose emergency admissions to hospital could have been avoided are rising so fast.

"Our GP and community health services are understaffed and overstretched, and yet many older people with multiple health problems are completely dependent on them to sustain their independence, health and wellbeing."

The charity have called for a more joined-up approach to services.

Ms Abrahams said: "The NHS long term plan must grip this situation and put in place a raft of measures to restore the safety net for older people living at home.

"They cannot create a stronger safety net on its own, and social care must plan an equal part, but is currently so underfunded it is in no position to do so. This cannot go. We need to build up all our community health and social care services again."

Report follows criticisms

THE Age UK report follows previous criticism of failing services.

Parliamentary and health service ombudsman Rob Behrens highlighted instances where older people are too afraid to raise the alarm when something goes wrong in their care, or when people are discharged from hospital before they are fit to leave, without relatives or carers being informed.

Mr Behrens said: "We know from our casework that a fragmented health and social care system means vulnerable older people are often falling through the cracks.

"This is all the more alarming given older people's reluctance to speak up when things go wrong. The NHS must ensure that services co-ordinate and communicate with one another and families, as well as making patients aware of how to complain."