Nearly 800,000 people have been denied state help during the social care green paper delay, an elderly persons charity has said.

A green paper on how to reform the social care system has been delayed six times since the Government promised to publish it in March 2017.

Earlier this month, the Local Government Association (LGA) told Whitehall that they had 10 weeks to publish the paper ‘for the sake of the millions of older and disabled people who rely on vital care and support’.

Drawing on data collected from councils by NHS Digital, the charity Age UK found last February that 626,701 older people had had their requests for social care refused by their council since March 2017.

They also found that 54,025 older people had died while waiting for a care package to be put in place for them.

Age UK now estimates that the number of people who have been denied social care support has risen since February to 770,000.

‘We understand that the Government has had many critical issues to deal with over the last few years and faces some difficult months to come, but in the real world older people and their families are suffering every day in huge numbers because of ministers' lack of firm action on social care,’ said Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK.

‘It is appalling that so many older people who need help have been turned down for care, that well over a million are living with an unmet need for care and, most tragically of all, so many have died waiting for their care to be put in place.’

‘There is a desperate need for certainty and stability, to help providers to hold onto good staff and deliver great care,’ she added.

The adult social care system currently faces a £3.6bn funding gap by 2025.?