Millions of people who are 50 and over are living with some form of unmet need for care in England, a coalition of charities has revealed.

New analysis by Age UK for the Care and Support Alliance (CSA) has found that 2.6 million people aged 50 and above are not able to access the care support they require.

According to Age UK’s findings, 70% (1.8 million) of those with an unmet need for care have difficulty dressing and 47% (1.2 million) have difficulty bathing or showering.

The CSA, which represents over 60 leading charities campaigning for a properly funded social care system in England, warned that these figures are more evidence that the social care system was suffering from a shortage of money and staff.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance said: ‘There’s no doubt that the long term neglect of social care services by central Government is having very real consequences, not only for the individuals whose lives are at best diminished, and their families who often have to pick up the pieces, but for other public services too, especially the NHS.

‘What folly it has been for our politicians to be so careless about such a crucial public service – it’s high time that changed and I hope our new Prime Minister will turn the page and take a more intelligent approach to social care.’

Ms Abrahams continued: ‘At the moment all the data point to social care becoming weaker as time goes on, not stronger, particularly when you look at the state of the workforce, where vacancies are increasing month by month. This is scarcely surprising when you consider how uncompetitive the terms and conditions in social care now are: the incoming administration must understand that they will not begin to turn the curve on quality and access in social care until they ensure care staff are properly recompensed for the incredible work they do.’

The research also found that 18% (450,000) of those with an unmet need for care have difficulty walking across a room, while 36% (930,000) have difficulty getting in and out of bed and 23% (600,000) have difficulty using the toilet.

Just over 20% (540,000) of people with an unmet need for care are often lonely, compared to 6% of people who have no need for care and 12% of people who have a need for care which is met.

Jackie O’Sullivan, communication director of Mencap and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said: ‘We need an urgent cash injection from the Government to address all these ongoing pressures on the system caused by the pandemic and in the longer-term need funding targeted at supporting decent pay rises for our hard-working care workforce. This is the only way the sector can get back on an even keel.

‘The years of lack of investment means the scale of the challenge is huge and demands urgent action now. The millions of older and disabled people putting up with inadequate services, if they get any service at all, need the incoming PM to get a grip of the problem and aim for transformation through proper reform, but as it stands it is never going to be possible with the meagre funding allocated by the government up to now.’