The English Community Care Association (ECCA), the leading representative body for independent care providers, and Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), a charity working to protect, and prevent the abuse of, vulnerable older adults, have today issued a joint statement condemning the Government’s suggestion that cutting spending on residential care is key to councils making best use of resources in adult social care.

Gary Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of Action on Elder Abuse, says:

"Encouraging a reduction in the use of residential care in order to save money undermines the whole purpose of a needs assessment which involves personal choice and should not be promoted as a solution to the funding challenges created by the recent Government proposals on long term care. Such an option is clearly not about ‘efficiency’ savings based on the needs of the individual”.

Gary Fitzgerald continues:

“We need to strongly challenge the argument that residential care is never a positive choice and that older people always want to live in their own homes.  Such bald statements ignore the realities that, for many older people, living at home can be an isolating, depressing and worrying experience that involves living with minimal support or contact with the outside world.  It also ignores the fact that, for many older people, residential care is the most appropriate and the most satisfying means of achieving a quality of life.
 
With all the evidence indicating that older people are most at risk of abuse living in their own homes, it is surely time for a more sophisticated approach to this whole issue.”

 
Notes to Editors:

• ECCA works to ensure that care services are commissioned fairly, efficiently and on a properly funded basis, to meet the true costs of providing appropriate care Action on Elder Abuse (AEA) works to protect, and prevent the abuse, of vulnerable older adults.
• Contact ECCA press on 020 7492 4844 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Visit www.elderabuse.org.uk